The second Graduate Research in Mathematics Symposium will be a one day conference on Saturday February 21st, 2026 hosted by the MGSA at UNC Charlotte. Centering our graduate students in the department of Mathematics and Statistics, this event will provide our students opportunities to present their research to a regional audience.
Who: Graduate students in Mathematics and Statistics from UNC Charlotte and surrounding institutions
What: One day conference centering graduate-level research
When: Saturday February 21st, 2026
Where: Popp Martin Student Union Room 200, UNC Charlotte, 8845 Craver Rd, Charlotte, NC 28262
Cost: Free!
Accommodations: The UNC Charlotte Marriott is the closest hotel to campus. There are also several other hotels at various price points in the immediate area. A list of such hotels can be found here.
Parking: Parking is free on campus on the weekends. The closest parking deck to the conference is the Union Deck, located at the same address as the conference. For a map of campus and the various parking decks, see this link.
GRiM Speaker Abstract Submission & Attendee Registration Form Link
8:30-9am - Registration
9-9:05am - Welcome from Montse Torres Garcia, UNC Charlotte, MGSA President
9:05-9:15am - Opening Remarks from Dr. Taufiquar Khan, UNC Charlotte Mathematics Department Chair
9:20-9:40 - "Oh Nar! The Importance of Exogenous Inputs", Kody Angell, UNC Charlotte
9:40-10 - "Magnitude Homology of Hypergraphs via Constraint Graphs", Patrick Martin II, NC State University
10-10:20 - "Analysis of bifurcation diagrams for positive solutions for classes of landscape ecological models", Bryant Bugna, UNC Charlotte
10:20-10:35 - Break
11:30-11:45 - Break
11:45-12:05 - "Drawings of Infinite Graphs", Alec Helm, University of South Carolina
12:05-12:25 - "A Perturbed Physics-Informed Neural Network Surrogate Model for the One-Dimensional Heat Equation", Steve Wainaina & Hunter Young, UNC Charlotte
12:25-12:45 - "A Mean-Field Leader Follower Model of Schooling Fish-via Social Influence", Abdulmalik Oyedeji, UT Knoxville
12:45-2:15 Recess for Lunch
2:15-2:35 - "Algorithmically Facilitated Spread: Modeling the Impact of Digital Dating Platforms (DDPs) on STI Epidemiology", Fayowole David Ayadi, UT Knoxville
2:35-2:55 - "A MATHEMATICAL MODEL FOR THE DYNAMICS OF OVARIAN CANCER IN GHANA", Ebenezer Acquah, UT Knoxville
2:55-3:15 - "Physics-Informed Kolmogorov-Arnold Network for Modeling Pertussis Vaccine Scare Behavior with Social Norms", Gleb Gribovskii, UNC Greensboro
3:15-3:30 - Break
3:30-3:50 - "Modeling the Threshold", Keara Walsh, UNC Charlotte
3:50-4:10 - "Fast and Accurate Surrogate Models: Comparing DeepONet, FNO, and PIKNO for Rapid Prediction of Laser-Tissue Interaction", Hunter Young, UNC Charlotte
4:10-4:30 - "Transfer Learning", John W. Quinn V and Cam Peters, UNC Charlotte
4:30-5 - Closing Remarks and Farewell!
If you have questions, please contact Keara Walsh (kwalsh27@charlotte.edu)