MAAGC at VCU 

The 2026 edition of the Mid-Atlantic Algebra, Geometry, and Combinatorics (MAAGC) Workshop will take place from Friday to Sunday, October 23-25, 2026, at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) in Richmond, VA.

The MAAGC Workshop aims to bring together senior researchers and junior mathematicians from the region to exchange ideas and forge collaborations in algebra, geometry, and combinatorics. The conference is funded by National Science Foundation grant DMS-2408985.

Speakers

Sergi Elizalde (Dartmouth College)

Leonardo Mihalcea (Virginia Tech)

Rebecca R.G. (George Mason University)

Brendon Rhoades (University of California, San Diego)

Josef Svoboda (Caltech)

Bridget Tenner (DePaul University)

Martha Yip (University of Kentucky)

Panel discussion on Effective Mathematical Writing

Ashvin Swaminathan (Harvard University and Axiom Math)

Ken Ono (University of Virginia and Axiom Math)

Bridget Tenner (DePaul University)

Will Traves (United States Naval Academy) - *TBC

Martha Yip (University of Kentucky)

Organizers

Joel B Lewis (The George Washington University)

Anna Pun (CUNY-Baruch College)

Nicola Tarasca (Virginia Commonwealth University)

Location

The conference will be held on the VCU Monroe Park campus in Richmond, VA.

Participants are expected to arrange their own accommodation unless contacted by the organizers. Several hotels are located within walking distance of the conference venue. We encourage participants to book their accommodation well in advance.

Schedule

Friday

3:15pm – 3:30am: Check in

3:30pm – 4:30pm: TBA

5:30pm – 6:30pm: TBA

Saturday

10:00am – 11:00am: TBA

12:00nn – 1:00pm: TBA

1:00pm – 2:30pm: Lunch Break

2:30pm – 3:30pm: Panel

3:45pm – 5:30pm: Poster session 

Sunday

10:00am – 11:00am: TBA

11:30am – 12:30pm: TBA

1:00pm – 2:00pm: TBA

Abstracts

Rebecca R.G.: Applications of algebra, geometry, and combinatorics to spatial navigation

There are three types of cells involved in spatial navigation: place cells, grid cells, and head direction cells. Place cells fire every time an animal is in a specific location, grid cells fire in a repeating sequence as the animal travels along particular trajectories, and head direction cells indicate the way an animal is facing. While many people study these using mathematical modeling and more traditional applied mathematics techniques, there is a growing community of people using algebraic, geometric, and combinatorial tools to analyze place and grid cells. In this talk I'll discuss how I use combinatorial commutative algebra to study place cells (building on work of Curto, Itskov, et al) and geometry to study grid cells. The work on place cells is joint with Hugh Geller, Alexandra Seceleanu, and Nora Youngs, and the work on grid cells is joint with Giorgio Ascoli, Holger Dannenberg, Kelsi Listman, Nate Sutton, and Anthony Vu.

Poster session

TBA

Registration

Please register here. Registration is free, but helpful for planning purposes (space and refreshments). Junior participants (undergraduate and graduate students as well as postdocs) are encouraged to participate in the poster session. Please include a tentative poster title during registration if you wish to be considered. 

Financial support

There is funding for travel and accommodation, especially for early-career participants presenting at the poster session. Register by September 23 to receive full consideration for funding. Please contact the organizers as soon as possible if childcare is requested.