Algebraic Combinatorics Virtual Expedition, Online Conference, 2021

The Algebraic Combinatorics Virtual Expedition (AlCoVE) is a two-day conference for mathematicians studying the interplay between algebra and combinatorics and their applications to other areas of mathematics and science. At the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, AlCoVE was launched as a way to bring together the algebra and combinatorics communities in a virtual setting.

We aimed to re-create as many of the beneficial aspects of in-person conferences as possible, including the mentoring and networking benefits that conferences usually provide. The 2020 conference drew hundreds of participants from all around the world, and we are now continuing to run AlCoVE as an annual online conference, improving our virtual social events through technology funded by the NSF.

AlCoVE strives to be an inclusive, global conference that promotes collaboration and progress in this field, while simultaneously increasing accessibility and helping to reduce the carbon footprint of mathematics research.

AlCoVE 2021, to be held on June 14-15, will feature presentations on a wide array of topics in algebraic combinatorics and its applications. These topics include enumeration, lattices and posets, generating functions and q-series, symmetric function theory, computational algebraic geometry, polytopes and Ehrhart theory, combinatorial optimization, and topological combinatorics.

There will be a poster session for younger researchers to share their work as well, and dynamic social events to foster networking, collaboration, and social events. The website for the conference is http://www.math.uwaterloo.ca/~opecheni/alcove.htm

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.