CUMC 2026 Summary

The 2026 edition of the Canadian Undergraduate Mathematics Conference (CUMC) took place between June 23 and June 27, 2026 on the McMaster University campus in Hamilton, Ontario. It was a five-day event filled with a variety of activities, ranging from scientific talks to social events, and marked the first time McMaster had hosted the conference since 2000.

This year’s edition of the conference brought together over 130 participants from 21 institutions across eight provinces, with nearly 50 student presentations. Talks ran in parallel thematic sessions—Analysis & Statistics, Algebra, and Applied Mathematics—throughout Hamilton Hall, home of McMaster’s Department of Mathematics and Statistics. Subjects ranged from quantum walks, to free probability for random matrices, to a variational quantum framework for systems pharmacology, with many students presenting their own research for the first time.

The conference was filled with academic events. Ten plenary speakers joined us over the week: Dr. Tom Baird (Memorial University of Newfoundland), Dr. Dror Bar-Natan (University of Toronto), Dr. Taylor Brysiewicz (University of Western Ontario), Dr. Miles Couchman (York University), Dr. Giulia Gaggero (McMaster University), Dr. Amy Hurford (Memorial University of Newfoundland), Dr. Allysa Lumley (York University), Dr. Jeffrey Rosenthal (University of Toronto), Dr. Nico Spronk (University of Waterloo), and Dr. Anna Stokke (University of Winnipeg). Their talks spanned pure and applied mathematics in equal measure, from algebraic topology via vector calculus, to knot invariants told through a story about car traffic on knot diagrams, to modelling of the COVID-19 pandemic in Atlantic Canada.

We also ran four professional development sessions: an information session with a Mitacs advisor on industry partnerships and work-integrated learning, a session on the NSERC-funded CREATE program in Quantitative Climate Science, a graduate school panel on research and life in a Master’s or Ph.D. program, and a panel titled Creating Belonging in Mathematics, where graduate students discussed barriers to participation, inclusive classrooms, and Indigenous ways of knowing.

After long days of back-to-back student talks, there is nothing better than to kick back and relax. The week opened with a dinner and social at TwelvEighty Bar & Grill, followed by a scavenger hunt bingo at the Altitude Bonfire Pit, which gave students a reason to seek each other out rather than stay with the people they arrived with. The conference closed with a banquet dinner and dance at CIBC Hall with a live DJ.

Our thanks go to the Fields Institute, the Institut des sciences mathématiques, AARMS, the Statistical Society of Canada, McMaster’s Department of Mathematics and Statistics, the McMaster Science Society, and the McMaster Math and Stats Society for their support, and to the CMS and its Student Committee for their guidance throughout. Photographs from the week can be found below or on Flickr.

In summary, the 2026 edition of the CUMC set out to give undergraduates a place to share their work and to convince them that they belong in mathematics. Watching over 130 students trade proofs, career advice, and dance steps over five days, we are confident it did exactly that. We hope to see you at the next one!