RITs and Student Seminars

Fall 2026

RITs ("Research Interaction Teams") are informal groups designed to foster interaction between faculty, students, and postdocs, and to get students interested in current research. Most of them meet as informal seminars with active student participation (and in many cases, student organization as well).  Course credit is possible for most RITs under the course numbers MATH489, MATH689, and AMSC689.  (Contact the faculty organizer of the particular RIT for more info.)  In addition to the RITs, there are several student seminars which are run by students for students. (Note: Some items have been updated for 2026)

  • RIT on Applied Partial Differential Equations
    • Organizers: Chris Henderson and Kevin Hu
    • Meeting Time: 3:00pm - 3:50pm Mondays, MTH 1311.  
    • Description: We will study mathematical aspects of applied partial differential equations. These might include well-posedness, long-time behavior, attractor dynamics, stability of coherent structures, asymptotic limits, and the relationship between chaos and stochasticity. However the best description is the list of talks given on the website.
  • RIT on Geometry and Physics
    • Organizers: S. Jim Gates (Physics), Amin Gholampour (Math), Tristan Hubsch (Howard (Physics) and UMd), Jonathan Rosenberg (Math), Richard Wentworth (Math)
    • Meeting Time: Thursdays at 11:00 AM in MTH 1310, starting on Thursday, Sept. 3.  Meetings also available on Zoom.
    • Description: This interdisciplinary RIT will aim to foster interactions between mathematicians and physicists on topics of mutual interest, such as supersymmetry, string theory, topological states of matter, and gauge theory.  Contact one of the organizers for more information.
  • RIT on Quantum Information
    • Organizers: Carl MKyle Kawagoe (Math and IPST), Ariel Rosenfield (Math and IPST), Daniel Serrano (IPST), and Konstantina Trivisa (Math and IPST)
    • Meeting Time: Mondays at 11:00 AM in MTH 3206.  Spring semester meetings starting on Monday Jan. 26. 
    • Description:  In this seminar, we are interested in all aspects of research at the intersection between quantum information science and mathematics. Goals for the seminar include:
      • Studying recent research results in quantum information from a mathematical angle;
      • Finding examples (old and new) in which existing tools from mathematics have been adapted for application in quantum information;
      • Studying quantum algorithms for mathematical problems
      • Enabling interaction between researchers interested in collaborating at the intersection between quantum information and mathematics.
    • Spring 2026 format and topic: We will design and work on research projects as teams. The focus will be on quantum gates, exploring the Clifford hierarchy with mathematical rigor.
  • RIT on Quantitative Ecological and Evolutionary Dynamics (QEED)
    • Organizers: Joshua Weitz (Biology), Stephen James Beckett (Biology), Gabi Steinbach (Biology)
    • Meeting Time: TBA, contact organizers for info
    • Description: QEED will support early career scientists in developing and deploying quantitative modeling approaches to understand the impact of ecological and evolutionary dynamics on environmental and human health. By fostering an interdisciplinary research and training community, QEED will enable intellectual exchange, provide opportunities for trainees to present research in progress, expand understanding of research in related areas, improve research skills, and build collaborations.
  • RIT on Algebraic Geometry
    • Organizer: Dori Bejleri
    • Meeting Time: Fridays at 1:00, usually in MTH 3206
    • Description: The topic will be announced shortly.  In recent semesters, we have covered K3 surfaces and log geometry.
  • RIT on Adic Geometry
    • Organizer: Bogdan Zavyalov and Tom Haines
    • Meeting Time: Fridays 2:00 - 3:30 PM, usually in MTH 3206
    • Description: The topic this year will be the geometrization of the local Langlands correspondence, following Fargues-Scholze
  • RIT on Applied Harmonic Analysis
    • Organizer: Radu Balan
    • Meeting Time: 11:00am-11:50am Mondays, MTH 1310
    • Description: We plan to discuss topics in harmonic analysis and related fields (functional analysis, operator and representation theory) with applications to various fields such as signal processing, machine learning, graph representations, quantum information theory.
  • RIT on Mathematical Finance/Financial Mathematics
    • Organizer: Dilip Madan, Finance
    • Meeting Time: Tuesdays 4-5 pm in VMH2534
    • Course Credit: available for interested students under the number AMSC689, section no. 6505. 
  • RIT on AI in Statistical Consulting
    • Organizer: Eric Slud
    • Meeting Time: Mondays at 3 or 4
    • Details: coming soon
  • RIT on Weather, Chaos, and Data Assimilation
    • Organizers: Kayo Ide  and Brian Hunt
    • Meeting Time: Mondays 2-3pm; Contact organizers for more info.
    • Description: We study prediction and estimation problems for nonlinear dynamical systems with main applications in (but not limited to) earth system sciences. Emphasis is put on uncertainty quantification and reduction, and a rapidly emerging field for the integration of data assimilation and machine learning/artificial intelligence. 
  • RIT on Physical Oceanography
    • Organizers: Professor James Carton (carton@umd.edu) and Dr. Luyu Sun (lysun@umd.edu)
    • Meeting Time: Every Monday; 12:00pm-1:00pm.
    • Where: Online (The link will be determined later)
    • Description:  This RIT brings together researchers from NOAA and NASA, as well as students interested in physical oceanography, including ocean circulation, air-sea interactions, data assimilation, and numerical modeling/machine learning applications in ocean science. Meetings typically include a brief presentation followed by an open discussion.
    RIT on Stochastic Optimization
    • Organizers: Michael Fu, Management Science
    • Meeting Time: Thursdays, 3:15pm in VMH 4335
    • Description: The focus of this RIT will be gradient-based stochastic optimization methodologies and applications, including techniques for stochastic gradient estimation in simulation and other data-driven settings. Other statistical ranking & selection approaches are also considered, as well as Markov decision processes and reinforcement learning. Potential application areas include queueing systems, manufacturing, supply chain management, and financial engineering.
    • Prerequisites: strong background in prob/stats at the advanced undergraduate level; recommended: real analysis and measure theory
  • RIT on Optimization and Equilibrium Problems with Applications in Engineering
    • Organizer:  Steven A. Gabriel, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, sgabriel@umd.edu
    • Meeting Time: Not meeting Spring 2023, but may restart in Fall 2023.
    • Description: We will cover a variety of problems in optimization and equilibrium modeling, a subject that includes convex optimization, game theory, economics, and has a strong connection to integer programming as well.  Applications are in energy, transportation, and other engineering-economic areas. Professor Gabriel will start with an overview of the field and some suggested applications.  Course credit is available for interested students.  Any student who wants credit will need to give a presentation on a topic of his/her choice in optimization/equilibrium modeling.
  • RIT on Operations Research and Management Science
    • Organizers: Alex Estes, Bruce Golden, Raghu Raghavan, and Zhi-Long Chen
    • Meeting Time: usually Fridays at 10:00, but contact Alex Estes for information, as room number and time may vary.
    • Description: The topic of the seminar will be operation research and management science. Topics may include stochastic processes, integer programming, stochastic optimization, and machine learning, and applications of these methods. Potential applications include inventory planning, drone and vehicle routing for package delivery, air traffic management, network design, and organ matching. 
  • Informal Geometric Analysis Seminar
  • RIT on Deep Learning
  • Student Geometry-Topology Seminar
    • Organizer:??
    • Meeting Time: Fridays ??
  • Student Algebra-Number Theory Seminar
    • Organizer: Jackson Hopper
    • Meeting Time: to be determined.  Contact Jackson if you want to have input on this.
  • Joint AMSC, MATH and STAT (JAMS) Student Seminar
    • Organizers: Revati Jadhav (revatij@umd.edu), Brandon Kolstoe (bkolstoe@umd.edu), and the Graduate Student Committee (GSCAMS) (gsc-amsc-math-stat@umd.edu)
    • Meeting Time: Thursdays, 4:30 - 5:30 PM
    • Location: John S. Toll Physics Building 2208
    • Description: The goal of this student seminar is to provide elementary introductions to a diverse array of mathematical topics in the style of the popular "What is ...?" series, prominantly featured in the AMS Notices.
  • RIT on Mathematics of Infectious Diseases
    • Organizer: Darsh Gandhi
    • Meeting Time: Mondays 1:00PM - 2:30PM, MTH 1313
  • RIT on Mathematical and Statistical Approaches to Animal Movement and Learning