GROW 2025 Returns to Columbia University
This fall, Columbia University once again became the place for aspiring mathematicians as it welcomed 90 undergraduates from around the country to GROW 2025, a conference designed to empower students who envision a future in the mathematical sciences. IICD is proud to sponsor the event for the second consecutive year.
The GROW conference is intended to provide support and encouragement to undergraduate students considering going to graduate school in the mathematical sciences and to help build a profession in which gender and sex are not barriers to participation. The conference runs annually, and is open to undergraduates from U.S. colleges and universities, including international students. GROW was first launched at Northwestern University in 2015 and has been hosted at leading institutions around the country.
This year’s program featured plenary lectures by Jelena Bradic (Cornell University), Robert Bryant (Duke University), Anne Shiu (Texas A&M University), and Tatiana Toro (University of Washington/Simons Laufer Mathematical Sciences Institute). Panel discussions invited participants to explore the graduate school application process, research careers both inside and outside academia, and the perspectives of current graduate students.
The conference was co-organized by faculty members from the Departments of Mathematics and Statistics —Ivan Corwin, Richard Davis, Elena Giorgi, Giulia Saccà, and Tian Zheng— and sponsored by Columbia’s Departments of Mathematics and Statistics, the Herbert and Florence Irving Institute for Cancer Dynamics, the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, the Data Science Institute, as well as industry partners Jane Street and Two Sigma.
The conference concluded with a keynote presentation by Bin Yu (UC Berkeley) and a lively networking reception. Participants departed with fresh perspectives on potential careers in the mathematical sciences and with new connections, furthering GROW’s mission to build future generations of mathematical scientists.
