The geometry group at the University of Texas received a Research Training Grant (RTG) from the National Science Foundation in 2007. This has enabled us to begin new activities for undergraduates, graduate students, and postdoctoral associates with a great impact at all levels. The newly invigorated Undergraduate Mathematics Research Club, a department-wide activity which spans all of the mathematical sciences, is a gathering place for our many excellent mathematics majors. There are two new seminar courses for graduate students: a directed study of some topic in geometry for beginning graduate students and a literature course for those beginning their dissertations. The RTG funds many visitors to the geometry group, including each year a distinguished senior geometer to give the Perspectives in Geometry lectures.
The bulk of the grant is used to fund graduate students and postdoctoral associates, whose work is described in these pages.