Conference: Bayou Arithmetic Research Days

Bayou Arithmetic Research Days (BARDs) are one-day mini-conferences aimed at bringing together the vibrant community of students and researchers working in number theory in the Gulf Coast region. BARDs take place about two times a year at universities in Louisiana and neighboring states. The goal is to both bring high-profile speakers to the region and provide students and junior faculty within the region with speaking and networking opportunities. The conference series website is https://bardsmath.com.

Each BARD event features two to three plenary lectures, six to ten lightning talks, and a pre-talk. The plenary lectures are given by visiting researchers and are thematically related; past themes have included arithmetic geometry, analytic theory of L-functions, explicit class field theory, and additive number theory. Lightning talks are short presentations usually given by graduate students (and sometimes by undergraduate students or postdoctoral researchers); lightning talks at BARDs provide many students with their first professional speaking opportunity.

The pre-talk is given virtually by a local faculty member prior to the conference and provides background material aimed at students.

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.