RTG: Research in Combinatorics

UIUC的组合学研究培训小组(RTG)将开展一系列活动，让从本科生到高级教员的所有职业阶段的研究人员参加。该项目利用了UIUC教师在一个历史悠久的领域的多个领域的综合实力和领导能力。RTG有五名PI(Balogh、Di Francesco、Kedem、Kostochka和Yong)和一名高级人员(Ford)，其中包括三名国际数学家大会(ICM)的演讲者。UIUC组合学的教师、课程和活动的深度和广度在美国是独一无二的，因为它包括代数组合学、图论和加法数论。因此，在决定他们的论文方向之前，学生们经历了广泛的教育和选择。这从根本上积极地影响了国内学生的招募和留住，特别是妇女和代表不足的少数群体。这一说法得到了UIUC数学系最近2017年AMS奖的支持。这个RTG奖是UIUC数学系的第一个奖项，因此具有特殊的影响。它极大地加强了UIUC在全面教育和培训美国学生方面的地位。鉴于组合学的重要性和适用性，它对美国在数学和科学上的突出地位做出了切实的贡献。RTG将为研究人员的发展和促进合作提供一个统一的结构。RTG的活动包括研究研讨会、新的研究研讨会、会议和本科生指导。UIUC组合学的优势主要体现在两个方面：1.概率和极值组合学(Balogh，Kostochka)；2.代数、几何和物理组合学(Di Francesco，Kedem，Yong)。所有RTG教员都将他们的工作应用到其他STEM领域，特别是物理学和理论计算机科学。福特(高级人员)是加法数论相关领域的世界领先者。这个RTG的主要目的是支持组合学研究生。它为本科生、研究生和博士后的会议旅行提供资金。该计划将得到一年两次的组合学系列讲座的支持。更多的外部联系将来自四个每年一度的暑期学校，其中包括由RTG教员组织的相关会议(ALGECOM和研究生组合学会议)。RTG支持学生和(尤其是职业生涯初期)教师在RTG活动中的非本地参与。该奖项还极大地扩展了ICLUE(伊利诺伊州大学本科生经验组合实验室)，这是一个新的UIUC职业生涯研究和指导计划。RTG将聘请四名博士后。这些博士后不仅将帮助计划的活动，还将受益于这个研究培训小组提供的智力环境。这一奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The Research Training Group (RTG) in Combinatorics at UIUC will establish a number of activities involving researchers at all career stages ranging from undergraduate students to senior faculty. The project takes advantage of the combined strength and leadership of UIUC's faculty in multiple areas of a venerable field. The RTG has five PIs (Balogh, Di Francesco, Kedem, Kostochka, and Yong) and one senior personnel (Ford), which includes three speakers of the International Congress of Mathematicians (ICM). The depth and breadth of faculty, courses, and events at UIUC combinatorics is unique in the United States, as it includes algebraic combinatorics, graph theory and additive number theory. Thereby, students experience a broad range of education and options before deciding upon on their thesis direction. This fundamentally and positively affects recruitment and retention of domestic students, and in particular women and underrepresented minorities (URM). This claim is supported by a recent 2017 AMS award to the UIUC mathematics department as a whole. This RTG award is the first for the UIUC mathematics department, and is therefore of special impact. It tremendously strengthens UIUC's position to educate and train US students overall. Given the importance and applicability of combinatorics, it tangibly contributes to America's mathematical and scientific prominence. The RTG will provide a unifying structure for the development of researchers and to foster collaborations. Activities of the RTG include research workshops, new research seminars, conferences, and undergraduate mentoring. The strengths of UIUC combinatorics faculty are in two major areas: 1. Probabilistic and Extremal Combinatorics (Balogh, Kostochka), and 2. Algebraic, Geometric and Physical Combinatorics (Di Francesco, Kedem, Yong). All RTG faculty apply their work to other STEM fields, specifically physics and theoretical computer science. Ford (senior personnel) is a world leader in the related area of additive number theory. The primary purpose of this RTG is to support combinatorics graduate students. It funds conference travel for undergraduate students, graduate students, and postdocs. The program will be bolstered by a biannual combinatorics lecture series. More external contact will come from four annual summer schools layered with related conferences (ALGECOM and the Graduate Student Combinatorics Conference) organized by RTG faculty. The RTG supports non-local participation of students and (especially early career) faculty at RTG events. The award also vastly expands ICLUE (Illinois Combinatorics Lab for Undergraduate Experience), which is a novel UIUC career-long research and mentoring program. The RTG will hire four postdocs. These postdocs will not only assist in planned activities but also benefit from the intellectual environment offered by this research training group.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.