Workshop on branched covers

This workshop will revisit and explore the foundations and recent developments surrounding branched covers in low-dimensional topology. Our aim is to provide an accessible yet in-depth understanding of this classical and powerful construction through a combination of minicourses, collaborative sessions, and participant contributions. 

We invite a small group of participants to join us for a week of mathematics in an informal and collaborative setting. The workshop will be centered around three minicourses by leading experts, afternoon discussions, and short participant talks designed to foster engagement and new collaborations. All events will be accessible for advanced master students in low-dimensional topology.

Planned Format

• Morning lectures:
  A series of minicourses by three invited speakers:

  • Marco Golla (CNRS and Nantes Université) — Applications of branched covers

  • Luisa Paoluzzi (Université d'Aix-Marseille) — Characterizing knots by branched covers

  • Marc Kegel (Universidad de Sevilla) — Describing 3-manifolds by branched covers

• Afternoon group discussions:
  Time for informal, collaborative work exploring the lecture material, posing open problems, or brainstorming research projects. 

• Late afternoon participant talks:
  Short, contributed talks to round off the day, offering participants a chance to share ideas, work in progress, or related topics.

Atmosphere & goals

We aim to create a welcoming and collaborative environment with ample time for interaction and discussion. By keeping the group small, we hope to foster deep engagement and spark new research directions and collaborations.

Support

This workshop is supported by the Institute of Mathematics of the University of Seville (IMUS) and VII Plan Propio de Investigación y Transferencia (VII PPIT-US).