American Mathematical Society President-elect Jill Pipher will open the 20th annual Nebraska Conference for Undergraduate Women in Mathematics on Jan. 26. The conference offers undergraduate female mathematicians the opportunity to discuss their research and to meet other women who share their interest in mathematical sciences.

Pipher, professor of mathematics at Brown University, will give the first plenary talk “Mathematical Ideas in Public Key Cryptography” after the conference opening remarks at 3:40 p.m., Jan. 26, in the Nebraska Union Auditorium.

Pipher’s lecture will give some historical background to encryption, both private and public key, and explain some of the mathematical ideas involved in several different encryption systems. She will focus on lattice-based encryption schemes, like NTRU, which continue to remain secure against quantum attacks.

The lecture is free and open to the public, as is the conference’s second plenary talk by Irena Swanson, professor of mathematics, of Reed College. Swanson’s presentation, “Life in the Algebra Lane,” is at 3:10 p.m. on Jan. 27 in the Embassy Suites Regency Ballroom BC.

Nearly 400 mathematics students and educators from 34 states and Canada are attending the conference, and 143 students will be presenting their research. A complete schedule of student research presentations is available online.

The conference also includes two poster sessions featuring the research of students. The sessions are 2 p.m. to 3 p.m. on Jan. 27 and 8:55 a.m. to 9:35 a.m. on Jan. 28 in Regents Ballroom A at Embassy Suites.

Conference participants will have an opportunity to learn about life in graduate school from the perspective of current women graduate students representing math departments from across the country. Panel discussions will be held featuring representatives from government and private companies who will talk about their careers and how conference participants can put their advanced math skills to use in a variety of careers.

Nebraska faculty and staff can attend conference research presentations at no charge. Learn more about the conference.

The conference is sponsored by the Department of Mathematics; the Center for Science, Mathematics and Computer Education; the National Science Foundation; and the National Security Agency.