Recruiting for Geometry and Topology at MSU

Recruiting for Geometry and Topology at MSU

There are several faculty between the School of Computing and the Department of Mathematical Sciences at MSU that conduct research in geometry and topology. Below is a bio for each. If you choose to study here, you will have no shortage of fellow classmates and faculty members interested in discussing topology and geometry! Between the two departments, we offer several degrees: PhD in Computer Science or Mathematics, and MS in Computer Science, Data Science, or Mathematics.

For more information on the CS and Mathematics programs MSU (including admission requirements and how to apply), see the respective websites:

Although we accept applications on a rolling basis, please apply by December 15th (for the math programs) or by January 15th (for the CS programs) in order to have priority consideration for scholarships and invitations to our recruitment events (although, they are likely to be virtual this year …)

If you are interested in applying or have any questions, please feel free to contact:

Hope to see you here in Fall 2021!

About MSU

MSU is nestled in the Rocky Mountains of Southwest Montana. In addition to providing access to an extraordinary ecosystem for teaching and research programs, Bozeman is renowned for year-round recreational and cultural opportunities that include access to world class ski areas, multiple blue ribbon trout streams, and the Gallatin National Forest. If you are an outdoors person, you will love Bozeman.

Faculty Bios

Dr. David AYALA is an associate professor in the Mathematics Department. He joined MSU in 2014, after postdocs as Berkeley, USC, Harvard, and the University of Copenhagen. He received his PhD in 2009 through Stanford University, under the direction of Ralph Cohen, in the subject of algebraic topology. His research interests are framed by mathematical aspects of quantum physics, notably as it draws from homotopy theory, manifold topology, and higher category theory. Most recently, his work uses stratifications to codify inductive constructions and argumentation.

Dr. Brittany FASY is an assistant professor in the Gianforte School of Computing and Department of Mathematical Sciences. She joined MSU in 2015, after postdocs at Tulane University and Carnegie Mellon University. She received her PhD from Duke Universtiy in 2012, where her adviser was Herbert Edelsbrunner. Dr. Fasy’s research is in Applied Algebraic Topology, working both on the theoretical foundations as well as on applying topological techniques to various fields, including road network analysis and prostate cancer histology. She currently serves on the steering committee for Women in Computational Topology (WinCompTop) and is an associate editor of the AIMS journal Foundations of Data Science.

Dr. Tomas GEDEON is a professor of mathematics in the Department of Mathematical Sciences. He joined MSU in 1995 after a postdoc at Northwestern University. He received his PhD in 1994 under the direction of Konstantin Mischaikow. His research interests are in Mathematical Biology and Applied Algebraic Topology. He is particularly interested in dynamics of large gene networks and applications of TDA and other data analysis techniques to biological data.

Dr. Ryan GRADY is an assistant professor in the Department of Mathematical Sciences. He obtained his PhD from the University of Notre Dame under Stephan Stolz, before being a postdoctoral researcher at Boston University and the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics. His research interests include algebraic topology and mathematical aspects of quantum field theory.

Dr. Sam GUNNINGHAM will be starting as an assistant professor in the Department of Mathematical Sciences in 2021. He obtained his PhD from Northwestern University in 2013, and has held postdoctoral positions at the University of Texas, Austin, the University of Edinburgh, and King’s College, London. His research centers broadly around geometric representation theory, using ideas and tools from mathematical physics, algebraic geometry, algebraic topology, and low dimensional topology.

Dr. David MILLMAN is an assistant professor in the Gianforte School of Computing. He joined MSU in 2017 after helping to build the initial versions of ProductionPro and Nowsta. He received his Ph.D. in Computer Science from UNC Chapel Hill in 2012 under the guidance of Jack Snoeyink. Dr. Millman’s research is in Computational Geometry and Scientific Computing and some of their unusual applications.

Dr. Binhai ZHU is a professor in the Gianforte School of Computing. He joined MSU in 2000, prior to that he taught at City University of Hong Kong from 1996 to 2000 and did a post-doc at Los Alamos National Laboratory from 1994 to 1996. He obtained his PhD at McGill University in 1994 under the supervision of Godfried Toussaint. His current research interests are algorithms and their applications (especially problems in computational biology, with algorithms, geometry and topology as tools).

Dr. Dominique ZOSSO is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Mathematical Sciences. He is interested in a broad variety of topics in data science, image analysis, and computational mathematics. Before joining MSU, he earned both an MSc. and a Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from EPFL in Lausanne, Switzerland, and spent more than 4 years as Assistant Adjunct Professor in Computational and Applied Mathematics at UCLA. His research projects range from very applied to somewhat theoretical. For example, he has active collaborations with faculty in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology, the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, and the Department of Physics. On the more theoretical end of the spectrum, he focuses on efficient optimization techniques and tricks to make models like Archetypal Analysis applicable to “Big Data” sets. Another current major research effort is studying “Graph-based Geometric Data Analysis” that studies the shape of point clouds using notions of convex and integral geometry.