The Department of Mathematics at SBASSE hosted one of the most prestigious global gatherings in mathematics - CIMPA Research School on Algebraic and Combinatorial Methods in Geometry. From March 1st till 11th, the team of hosts and organisers managed to provide a highly resourceful platform for creating opportunities for the researchers to work on various projects and nurturing collaborations. The 10-day extravaganza was sponsored and supported by the International Mathematical Union (IMU), Centre International de Mathématiques Pures et Appliquées (CIMPA) and the Higher Education Commission of Pakistan. 

This event carried no registration fee, instead the IMU and CIMPA provided the funding for 10-days long stay to all the participants came from all over Pakistan. Most of the participants were avid learners, PhD students and faculty members from various institutes of Pakistan. Speaking about the event’s international outreach, Dr. Imran Anwar, Chair of the Department of Mathematics said, “We had participants joining us from Philippines, Iran, Turkey, and Netherlands. I must say that the participants made full use of the opportunity, positively.”

SBASSE would like to offer a special thanks to the Suleman Dawood School of Business (SDSB), particularly the team lead by Dr. Alnoor Bhimani, for helping with smooth operations during the entire event. “I must say that the amazing broadcasting facility available at the venue realized the event’s success.”, commented Dr. Anwar.

The sessions were decorated with eloquent lectures from a team of highly skilled and reputable experts. Here’s a list of the speakers and the topic of their respective talks:

Hannah Markwig : Tropical geometry

Sara Faridi: The combinatorics of syzygies

Tai Huy Ha: Containment between power of ideals

Sara Saeedi Madani: Algebraic and geometric aspects of matroids  

Kaie Kubjas: Geometry of nonnegative matrix rank

Nguyen Dang Hop: Homological invariants of sequence of symbolic power of monomial ideals

Shaheen Nazir: The Orlick-Terao algebra

The lectures echoed beyond the walls of LUMS, as the content was livestreamed with a broader audience in IBA-Karachi, Iran, India, Turkey, Vietnam, and European countries. You can access all lectures and sessions by clicking on this link. The CIMPA School sessions offered celebrations of the International Women Day as well. A special cake cutting ceremony followed one of the sessions, where Dr. Kaei Kubjas, convener of European Women in Mathematics was the guest of honor. Our interview of Dr. Kubjas was featured on the official CIMPA Facebook page.

This CIMPA School was filled with cultural colors too. CIMPA fully sponsored a city tour visit for all the participants to the walled city of Lahore. It was a wonderful expedition and lifted the spirit of the participants to discuss concepts and ideas more liesurely. “I am very thankful to my entire team in the Department of Mathematics, including Maryam Amir, Shazia Zafar, Nouman Zubair, Noreen Sohail and Qamar Hussain. They successfully organized this mammoth event and dealt with challenges gracefully and overcame many hurdles to make it possible.”, Dr. Anwar mentioned, summarizing the efforts of his wonderful team.

The Department of Mathematics is hopeful in bringing similar events to the School in the near future, creating not only healthy opportunities for its students but boosting interest and awareness of mathematics throughout the general community at LUMS and beyond.