Departmental Colloquium 2025-2026

The schedule for last year, 2024-2025, can be found here.

Fall 2025

Announcement: going forward, we will also update titles and abstracts in the newly designed departmental calendar, accessible through the math department website. This has the additional feature that one can add events to one’s personal calendar.

August 28 (Thursday), 4pm – JWB 335
Speaker: Chenyang Xu, Princeton University
Title: Moduli theory of Fano varieties
Abstract: The construction of moduli spaces for curves marked a significant milestone in modern algebraic geometry. For higher-dimensional varieties, the moduli theory of those with negative curvature has been studied for several decades and known to link to the minimal model program.

However, constructing moduli spaces for positively curved varieties, called Fano varieties, remained a challenge and an open question for higher-dimensional geometers. Recent breakthroughs have revealed that the key lies in the concept of K-stability—a notion introduced in complex geometry to characterize the existence of Kähler-Einstein metrics.

In this colloquium, I will discuss the development of these ideas, highlighting the interplay between algebraic and complex geometry, and the role of K-stability in establishing a moduli theory for Fano varieties.

September 2 (Tuesday), 4pm – ASB 210 (refreshments in ASB beforehand)
Speaker: Berton Earnshaw, University of Utah and Recursion
Title: Virtual Cells in the era of AI
Abstract: Creating virtual cells has long been a goal of the computational research community that unfortunately remains unachieved given the daunting complexity and scale of cellular biology. Nevertheless, recent advances in AI, computing power, lab automation, and high-throughput cellular profiling provide new opportunities for reaching this goal. I will briefly review the current state of AI-powered virtual cells, then present a vision for developing and evaluating virtual cells that leverages these advances. I will argue that, in order to be a useful tool to discover novel biology, virtual cells must accurately predict the functional response of a cell to perturbative interventions and explain how the predicted response is a consequence of modifications to key biomolecular interactions. I will compare and contrast with traditional mechanistic modeling approaches, and highlight potential research directions aimed at bringing the benefits of these approaches closer together.

September 11 (Thursday), 4pm – JWB 335
Speaker: Carsten Peterson, Institut de Mathématiques de Jussieu - Paris Rive Gauche
Title: TBA
Abstract: TBA

September 25 (Thursday), 4pm – JWB 335
Speaker: Jessica Fintzen, University of Bonn
Title: TBA
Abstract: TBA

October 2 (Thursday), 4pm – JWB 335
Speaker: Gilles Francfort, Flatiron Institute
Title: TBA
Abstract: TBA

October 23 (Thursday), 4pm – JWB 335
Speaker: Nathan Kutz, University of Washington
Title: TBA
Abstract: TBA

October 30 (Thursday), 4pm – JWB 335
Speaker: Paul Balmer, University of California, Los Angeles
Title: TBA
Abstract: TBA

November 6 (Thursday), 4pm – JWB 335
Speaker: Aaron Pollack, University of California, San Diego
Title: TBA
Abstract: TBA

November 13 (Thursday), 4pm – JWB 335
Speaker: Kevin Miller, Brigham Young University
Title: TBA
Abstract: TBA

November 20 (Thursday), 4pm – JWB 335
Speaker: Amber Smith, University of Tennessee Health Science Center
Title: TBA
Abstract: TBA

December 4 (Thursday), 4pm – JWB 335
Speaker: Jing Tao, University of Oklahoma
Title: TBA
Abstract: TBA