CUMC 2025 Summary

The 2025 edition of the Canadian Undergraduate Mathematics Conference (CUMC) took place between June 23 and June 27, 2025 on the University of Waterloo campus. It was a five-day event filled with a variety of activities, ranging from scientific talks to social events.

This conference brought together over 120 students presenting over 50 presentations from a range of universities across Canada. Covering from coast to coast, the students got together in this conference to share their research and knowledge with each other in their respective areas.

The conference was filled with academic events. Every day included a talk (or two) from one of our six plenary speakers: Jason Bell (University of Waterloo), Debbie Leung (University of Waterloo), Florian Girelli (University of Waterloo), Myrto Mavraki (University of Toronto), Craig Kaplan (University of Waterloo), and Grace Yi (University of Western Ontario). Each of the plenary speakers did a phenomenal job introducing their own subfield and specialty to the conference. In addition, we had an EDI panel on Tuesday to increase awareness among students. We also had a non-academic careers panel on Wednesday, being well attended event with a variety of panellists from different industries. The panellists shared their insights and experience on the workplace and academia vs their own experiences. We lastly had an academic careers panel on Thursday, including Dr. David Jao a tenured professor, Dr. Sourabhashis Das a recent PhD graduate, and Dr. Edward Lee a recently appointed professor. They shared their experiences and advice on the academic job market and how to navigate life as a graduate student.

After long days of back-to-back student talks, there’s nothing better than to just kick back and relax. On the first evening, we had an icebreaker social with food and drinks at the Grad House, the local university pub. Then on Thursday, as the conference was coming to a close, we had two main events. The fun day at Bingemans, a local amusement park, was a great way to unwind and socialize with other students. Alternatively, we also had a library tour of the rare math books collection at the Dana Porter Library for those who preferred a quieter activity.

In summary, the 2025 edition of the CUMC catered to a variety of mathematics students from various research backgrounds. The aim was to provide a platform for students to share their research and network with each other in their first-ever conference for some, and while we did accomplish that, we also were able to provide people with opportunities to socialize and form connections with each other for possible collaborations and future innovations. The conference was a great success, and we hope to see you at the next one!