News and Notes

Mathematics Faculty Spotlight

Science Daily Mathematics News: Your source for the latest research news
  • Adam Sikora Promotes Quantum Topology Worldwide
    4/30/26
    Professor Adam Sikora is helping advance and popularize the growing field of quantum topology, which connects topology and geometry with quantum physics through surprising cross-fertilization of ideas. Sikora co-organized three international conferences and a summer school devoted to this area. The first three NSF-supported events were held at Vietnam Institute for Advanced Study in Mathematics and at the Centre International de Rencontres Mathématiques (CIRM) in Marseille, France, in summer 2025. Another meeting, exploring connections with Number Theory, will take place at the Mathematisches Forschungsinstitut Oberwolfach in Germany.
  • Biondini co-authors "Mach Reflection and Expansion of Two-Dimensional Dispersive Shock Waves"
    8/14/25
    New research by University at Buffalo and University of Colorado Boulder mathematicians has uncovered and characterized novel two-dimensional wave patterns — waves that propagate along two directions — whether they are in water or other settings like plasmas and condensed matter. The new study, published Aug. 5 in Physical Review Letters, uses numerical simulations to obtain solutions in two dimensions, describing what gives rise to patterns like the matrix tide.
  • "Switch-like gene expression modulates disease" study co-authored by UB faculty and students in Mathematics and Biological Sciences
    4/30/26
    Published by Nature Communications, the study "Switch-like gene expression modulates disease" is the first systematic analysis of switch-like genes across multiple tissues. The study is co-authored by UB faculty and students in Mathematics and Biological Sciences.
  • Daniel Sage explains the history of pi
    4/30/26
    In celebration of pi (Greek letter π), the mathematical constant and infinite number whose first three digits are 3.14, UBNow features a special Q&A with Daniel Sage, professor and chair of the Department of Mathematics.
  • Barbara Prinari wins Fulbright Scholar Award
    6/11/25
    The Department of Mathematics congratulates Professor Barbara Prinari on winning the prestigious 2025 Fulbright Scholar Award. The research award supports Prinari's travel to Greece to study wave phenomena. The main goal of the collaborative research that Prinari will conduct at the University of Ioannina will be to develop a rigorous direct perturbation theory for the study of dark-bright solitons under physically relevant perturbations (e.g., dissipation, linear and nonlinear loss).

Mathematics Student Spotlight

  • Alia Spaker named CAS Outstanding Senior 2026
    5/7/26
    The Department of Mathematics is pleased to announce that Alia Spaker has been named Outstanding Senior 2026 by UB College of Arts and Sciences. Spaker, of Honeoye Falls, NY, graduates summa cum laude with a bachelor of science in mathematics. She is a Summer Math Scholar and recipient of the Harriet Montague Award. Spaker completed an honors thesis in analytic number theory under the supervision of Professor Jakob Streipel. She served as a teaching assistant for the Department of Mathematics and participated in the Directed Reading Program for three semesters. In the fall, Spaker will pursue a doctorate in pure mathematics at the University of Connecticut. An event honoring the Outstanding Seniors was held on April 20, 2026, hosted by CAS.
  • At age 18 Michael Reyf graduates with a bachelor’s degree in mathematics, with minors in statistics and law
    5/15/26
    Michael Reyf entered UB at age 16 with more than 30 credits earned through Advanced Placement (AP) exams. With those credits, along with consistently taking 20 to 21 credits per semester, he was able to complete his undergraduate degree in four semesters. There’s also an interesting family connection with graduating college early. Aleksandr Reyf, Michael’s father, graduated from New York University’s College of Arts and Sciences in May 2000 at the age of 18, making him the youngest graduate in the class of 2000. Read the story by Vicky Santos.
  • Alexander Bivolcic, UB Math Graduate Student, Wins Excellence in Teaching Award
    5/2/25
    The Department of Mathematics is pleased to announce that Alexander Bivolcic has been awarded the University at Buffalo's 2025 Excellence in Teaching Award for Graduate Student Teaching Assistants.
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