University of Alabama Department of Mathematics

09/03/2026

08/20/2026

Congratulations to Mojdeh Rasoulzadeh on being named a 2026 Alabama Water Institute (AWI) Faculty Fellow under the Community Oriented Nature-based Science for Ecosystem Restoration and Versatile Engineering (CONSERVE) research group!

This prestigious three-year fellowship, running from August 16, 2026, through August 15, 2029, provides an exciting opportunity to collaborate with the CONSERVE team, contribute to ongoing research initiatives, and help shape future projects.

We look forward to seeing Mojdeh’s leadership and contributions advance the mission and vision of AWI and CONSERVE across campus and regional and national platforms.

Congratulations, Mojdeh, on this well-deserved achievement! We wish you great success in this new role.

08/04/2026

2026 Alabama Summer Undergraduate Math Workshop

The Department of Mathematics was pleased to host the 2026 Alabama Summer Undergraduate Math Workshop, a four-day program designed to support and inspire undergraduate students in mathematics.

The workshop featured plenary lectures, mini-courses, problem-solving sessions, and professional development activities, providing participants with valuable opportunities to deepen their mathematical knowledge and explore academic and career pathways. Students also had the chance to showcase their work through short research presentations and poster sessions, fostering collaboration and scholarly exchange among peers.

We thank all participants, speakers, organizers, and mentors who contributed to the success of this enriching event and helped create a vibrant mathematical community.

For more information about the workshop, please visit: https://sites.ua.edu/btosun/asumw/

08/04/2026

Luke Bowman and Eoin O’Hearn Offered Fulbright Award for 2026-2027

Congratulations to Luke Bowman and Eoin O’Hearn on their recognition in the Fulbright U.S. Student Program competition for 2026–2027.

Luke, who recently completed his B.S. in Mathematics, is among ten University of Alabama students who have been offered Fulbright awards this year. He will serve as an English Teaching Assistant in Germany. Bulent Tosun had the pleasure of teaching Luke in my MATH 301 course last spring and was impressed by his strong academic abilities and thoughtful engagement in the classroom.

Eoin, another outstanding Mathematics student and participant in the AMP in Mathematics program, has been named a Fulbright finalist and may still receive an award if additional funding becomes available. Bulent Tosun had the opportunity to work closely with Eoin both as a student and through AMP in Mathematics. He is a truly remarkable scholar and an exceptional person, and this recognition is well deserved.

Congratulations to both Luke and Eoin on these significant achievements.

More information is available here:

The Fulbright Program selected 10 University of Alabama students for various awards for the 2026-2027 academic year.

08/04/2026

Congratulations to Dr. Simon Bortz on NSF Grant Award

Congratulations to Dr. Simon Bortz, who has been awarded a three-year grant from the National Science Foundation’s Analysis Program within the Division of Mathematical Sciences in support of his project, “Quantitative Parabolic Rectifiability, Parabolic Partial Differential Equations and Boundary Value Problems.”

The project studies evolution equations that govern heat flow, diffusion, and transport, that is, processes described mathematically by parabolic partial differential equations. A central question of the project is how the shape and roughness of a region’s boundary influence the behavior of solutions of these parabolic equations inside the region. A particular focus is on regions that are allowed to deform over time. The project aims to identify sharp criteria connecting the geometry of these evolving boundaries to the analytic behavior of solutions.

Please join us in congratulating Dr. Bortz on this outstanding achievement and wishing him continued success with this important research.

08/04/2026

Dr. Jia Zhao Serves as Co-PI on NSF Research Grant

Congratulations to Dr. Jia Zhao, assistant professor of mathematics, who will serve as a co-principal investigator (Co-PI) on a three-year, $525,021 research grant from the National Science Foundation (awarded through the Division of Mathematical Sciences). The project is titled “FDT-BioTech: Biosignals Fusion-Informed Neuromusculoskeletal Reconstruction in Immersive Digital Twin for Personalized Stroke Gait Rehabilitation Using Lower-Limb Exoskeletons.”

The interdisciplinary project is led by Dr. Qiang Zhang as PI, with Drs. Fei Hu, Jia Zhao, and Mizanur Rahman serving as Co-PIs. The research team will develop a personalized digital-twin framework that integrates mathematical modeling, biosignal data, artificial intelligence, and wearable robotics to improve lower-limb rehabilitation for individuals who have experienced a stroke.

More info can be found at: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/show-award/?AWD_ID=2625825

08/04/2026

Dr. Michael Perlman Awarded NSF Research Grant

Congratulations to Dr. Michael Perlman, who has been awarded a three-year grant from the National Science Foundation’s Algebra and Number Theory Program within the Division of Mathematical Sciences, in support of his project, “Group Actions and Hodge Theory in Commutative Algebra.”

The project sits at the confluence of algebraic geometry, commutative algebra, and representation theory, and investigates the singularities of algebraic varieties possessing rich group symmetry, such as toric varieties, Schubert varieties, and orbit closures of reductive groups. Drawing on cohomological methods, Hodge theory, and the representation theory underlying these symmetries, the project develops new tools to compute homological invariants that are otherwise notoriously intractable, shedding light on the geometry of singularities and their place within a broader mathematical landscape.