Current research group
William Schwartz,
Research Assistant (Applied Math PhD student, co-advisor H. Kaul).
- Research: temporal network models.
- Support: funded during Spring 2017 by my AFOSR grant on Algebraic Statistics for Network Models.
Miles Bakenhus,
Applied Math PhD student.
Jelena Mihajlovic-Klaric,
undergraduate student,
jointly supervised with Despina Stasi and Shahrzad Zelenberg. Summer 2019.
- Research: Groebner bases computations.
- Support: College of Science Undergraduate Summer
Research Stipend.
Mateja Raic,
PhD student at University of Illinois at Chicago, 2016-2018.
- Research: Geometric view of goodness-of-fit tests for network models.
Research visitors
I'm hosting
Dylan Peifer, a PhD student from Cornell, as a
visiting researcher in 2020/21.
- Expertise (as listed on Dylan's CV): The design, analysis, and implementation of algorithms for mathematical and scientific
computing, particularly the efficient computation of Groebner bases in computational
commutative algebra and algebraic geometry and the application of reinforcement learning techniques to improve algorithm heuristics.
Former students and postdocs
Shahrzad (Sara) Jamshidi Zelenberg,
Research Assistant Professor (post-doc) 2018-2020.
- Research: machine learning for non-linear algebra. Threaded Groebner bases in Macaulay2 and Python.
- Next position: Assistant Professor of Math and
Computer Science, Lake Forest College.
Learning Algebra 2019 group: Phillip Hosu, Travis Koehring, Jelena Mihajlovic-Klaric,
undergraduate research group,
jointly supervised with Despina Stasi and Shahrzad Zelenberg. Spring / summer 2019.
- Research: learning and computation for problems in non-linear algebra.
- Support: this research project is funded by the grant NSF DMS-1522662 on Randomized and Structure-Based Algorithms in Commutative Algebra.
Dane Wilburne,
PhD student, 2013-2018.
- Research: applied algebraic geometry, applied commutative algebra, and algebraic statistics.
- Support: supported under my AFOSR grant on 'Algebraic statistics for network models' (2013-2017), and partly under joint NSF grant 'Randomized and Structure-Based Algorithms in Commutative Algebra' (2015-2017).
- Awards: Dane has spent summer 2015 visiting ISM in Tokyo under the NSF-EAPSI program. He received the department's Teaching Assistant Award in 2017. He was awarded a SIAM Student Travel Award to attend the SIAM Conference on Applied Algebraic Geometry (AG17) July 31 – August 4, 2017, at Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta.
Dane has also been co-organizing the weekly Algebraic Statistics seminar at IIT (except Spring 2017).
- Next position: Dane went on to be a postdoc at Brown
University's ICERM program on non-linear algebra, followed by a postdoc at York University working with Hélène Massam.
Tanner Zielinski,
Research Assistant (Masters of
Applied Math student), 2018-2019.
- Research: threaded Groebner bases in Python and M2. Joint project with Shahrzad Zelenberg.
- Support: this research project is funded by the grant NSF DMS-1522662 on Randomized and Structure-Based Algorithms in Commutative Algebra.
RMI 2017 group: Genevieve Hummel, Parker Joncus, Daniel Kosmas, Richard Osborn, Monica Yun, and Tanner Zielinski,
undergraduate research group for Random Monomial Ideals, jointly supervised with Despina Stasi during Summer 2017.
- Research: Completing a Macaulay2 package for random monomial ideals, based on arXiv:1701.07130, and studying various model extensions.
- Support: the summer research project is funded by the grant NSF DMS-1522662 on Randomized and Structure-Based Algorithms in Commutative Algebra.
- Awards: Richard Osborn, under Despina Stasi's supervision, is supported by the College of Science summer research stipend. Daniel Kosmas, under my supervision, is supported by the McMorris summer research stipend from the Department of Applied Mathematics.
Despina Stasi,
Research Assistant Professor (post-doc), 2012-2017.
Denis Bajic,
Research Assistant (MS Data Science student), Summer 2016, Fall 2016, Spring 2017.
- Research: implementing and runing sampling and estimation algorithms needed for fitting network models; here is a preprint.
- Support: funded by my AFOSR grant on Algebraic Statistics for Network Models.
Martin Dillon,
Masters of Applied Mathematics student. Research group member 2015-2016. Graduated 2016.
- Research: Martin's Masters Thesis research spanned various aspects of computational and applied mathematics and statistics. He thesis focused on a mixing time problem for Markov chains arising in algebraic statistics. In particular, in his thesis `Runtime for perfomring exact tests on the p1 statistical model for random graphs', he showed that the chain we developed by Gross-P.-Stasi for the p1 random graph model mixes rapidly on all fibers where the simple switch chain does.
- Support: Formerly undergraduate student: In summer 2015, his research on complexity of Markov bases for contingency tables was supported by the F.R. "Buck" McMorris Summer Research Stipend. He presented a poster on this research at Menger Day 2016.
- Next position: Quantitative Analyst, Financial Risk Management, Milliman.
Elizabeth Gross,
PhD student 2010-2013, University of Illinois at Chicago. (Local advisor at UIC: Shmuel Friedland.)
- Research:
Thesis title: Algebraic Complexity in Statistics using Combinatorial and Tensor Methods.
- Support and awards:
During AY 2011/12, Elizabeth was funded as a visiting graduate student from Penn State Statistics, my new department home at that time. During AY 2012/13, she was funded by the Dean's Scholar Award at UIC.
- Next position: Upon graduation, Elizabeth was awarded an NSF Graduate Fellowship with Seth Sullivant, NCSU, and a tenure-track position at San Jose State University which she started in Fall 2014.
Weronika Swiechowicz,
undergraduate student. Research group member during 2014-2016. Graduated 2016.
- Research: Weronika worked on research problems in applied and computational algebra.
- Support and awards:
During spring 2016, she carried out simulations with the randomized polynomial solver in Macaulay2 on graph coloring ideals.
During summer 2014, Weronika was supported by the College of Science Dean's Undergraduate Research Stipend to work on algebraic problems related to accuarately maximizing a rational function (arising as a maximum likelihood problem in statistics). The joint paper on this project, with Yuanfang Xiang, got accepted for publication by the SIAM Undergraduate Research Online (SIURO) journal in 2015.
- Next position: Graduate program in Mathematical and Computational Finance at Stanford.
Xintong Li,
undergraduate student. Research group member summer 2015.
- Research: Xintong worked on a few computational problems in applied algebraic geometry in summer 2015. His interests were solving systems of polynomial equations with special structure, as well as theoretical problems about ideals arising in algebraic statistics.
- Support and awards:
He was supported by the College of Science Dean's Undergraduate Research Stipend during summer 2015. He presented a poster on this research at Menger Day in April 2016, at the IIT Research Day in April 2016, and at the Undergraduate Mathematics Symposium at UIC in October 2016.
Yuanfang Xiang,
undergraduate student. Research group member during 2014 calendar year. Graduated 2015.
- Research: Yuanfang's research focused on computational problems in statistics.
- Support and awards:
During summer of 2014, she was supported by the F.R. "Buck" McMorris Summer Research Stipend to work on problems related to effectively and accurately computing maximum likelihood estimates using numerical methods.
The joint paper on this project, with Weronika Swiechowicz, got accepted for publication by the SIAM Undergraduate Research Online (SIURO) journal in 2015.
- Next position: Graduate student in financial engineering at Cornell.