Rigidity, Algebraic Statistics and Topological Data Analysis 

(11/05/2026 - 15/05/2026) University of St Andrews

This workshop explores the deep and growing connections between rigidity theory, algebraic statistics, and topological data analysis.

These areas intersect through algebra, topology, and combinatorics, and provide powerful tools for studying discrete geometric objects, statistical models, and complex datasets.

The workshop brings together researchers working in rigidity theory, algebraic statistics, and data analysis, with the aim of fostering interdisciplinary collaboration and highlighting recent advances connecting these fields.

If you would like to attend, please fill in this Google form by the 20th of April.

Invited speakers:

• Alan Lew, Technion - Israel Institute of Technology

• Anthea Monod, Imperial College London

• Ryoshun Oba, Sorbonne University

• Emily Roff, the University of Edinburgh

• Soma Villányi, Eötvös Loránd University

Contributed talks:

• Dario Antolini, University of Trento

Title: Dilworth truncations and Hadamard products of linear spaces

• Daniel Irving Bernstein, Tulane University 

Title: Tropical methods for dihedral forced rigidity

• Oliver Clarke, Durham University 

Title: Flip products of matroids 

• Jack Esson, Lancaster University

Title: Crystallographic rigidity in Euclidean and non-Euclidean planes 

• Dániel Garamvölgyi, Eötvös Loránd University

Title: Sufficient conditions for bipartite rigidity, symmetric completability and hyperconnectivity of graphs 

• Zeyuan He, RWTH Aachen University

Title: A new method for generalizing non-self-intersecting flexible polyhedra 

• Jan Legerský, Czech Technical University in Prague

Title: Examples of rigid and flexible penny graphs 

• Kilian Rothmund, Ulm University

Title: Planarizing Gadgets for (k,l)-tight Graphs Do Not Exist

• Meera Sitharam, University of Florida

Title: Treewidth-d bases for systems of incident rigid bodies in d-dimensional Euclidean space

• Mykhaylo Tyomkyn, Charles University 

Title: On plane rigidity matroids 

• Nate Vaduthala, Tulane University 

Title: Rigidity is not definable in first order logic

Preliminary schedule: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1uI7y-Ph-CEJVPsXvavKeDuCbvIJHPWQlkAbRj-t4mgw/edit?tab=t.0

The workshop will take place at the Mathematical Institute of the University of St Andrews (Lecture Theatre C), Scotland, UK. 

Here is a link to Google maps.

The closest airport to St Andrews is in Edinburgh. The 787 bus is a direct service from the airport to St Andrews. Alternatively, one can take the train from Edinburgh to Leuchars, and then the 99 bus from Leuchars to St Andrews. The 99 bus runs quite regularly. We note that this workshop is the week before a workshop in Edinburgh titled 'Rigid structures in algebraic combinatorics and algebraic statistics' (ICMS workshop).

The organisers are (please contact us if you have any queries):

• Alison La Porta (University of St Andrews) - allp1@st-andrews.ac.uk

• Louis Theran (University of St Andrews) - louis.theran@st-andrews.ac.uk

• Anthony Nixon (Lancaster University) - a.nixon@lancaster.ac.uk

This workshop is supported by UK Research and Innovation and the Heilbronn Institute for Mathematical Research.