Assistant Professor of Mathematics and Computer Science Awarded $150,000 Grant

Rebecca Winarski, assistant professor of mathematics and computer science, was recently awarded a grant exceeding $150,000 from the National Science Foundation. Winarski aims to conduct research that she argues will ultimately unify perspectives within different subfields of mathematics—in particular, topology, geometry, algebra and dynamics.

"My collaborators and I translated techniques used to study symmetries of surfaces to better understand what it means for a function to be 'close to' a polynomial," Winarski explains. "I am excited to extend our strategies to other functions and further generalize our strategies." At Holy Cross, Winarski focuses on the fields of geometric group theory, low dimensional topology and complex dynamics.

In addition to her enthusiasm for the topic of her research, Winarski is also looking forward to working with a team to make advances in her field. "I'm proud to be part of a new research direction that the mathematics community sees as promising," she says. "I also appreciate that they value mentorship of young mathematicians."