Hi, I’m John Cobb
I’m a fifth year PhD student in the mathematics department at the University of Wisconsin-Madison advised by both Daniel Erman and Michael Kemeny. From 2019 to 2022, I was supported by a DoD NDSEG Fellowship. Details are in my CV.
My research interests are primarily within algebraic geometry and commutative algebra. I am currently thinking about geometric/homological techniques to study syzygies, vector bundles and linear series on curves, and using algebraic geometry to aid in classification questions and statistics.
I am currently on the job market.

- jcobb2@math.wisc.edu
- Van Vleck, Office 820
- he/him/his
Featured Organizing
This page organizes calculus II discussion sections 306 and 310 running in Fall 2023.
Géométrie Algébrique en Liberté, also known as GAeL, is an annual workshop organized by and for young algebraic geometers.
The DRP is a math mentoring program that pairs undergraduate students with graduate student mentors, for a semester-long independent study project.
Featured Publications
News
- A beer featuring art about algebraic geometry research that I helped design is now being sold in Madison. Check it out.
- I began my first year in the Mathematics PhD program at UW Madison.
- The College Today published an article on the Scott Ward Award.
- I won a DoD NDSEG Fellowship.
- The College Today published an article on the Quaternionic Soliton project.
Travel
Jun 17–21, '24 | GAeL XXXI, Turin, Italy |
Jan 3–6, '24 | Joint Mathematics Meetings, San Francisco, CA |
Nov 3–5, '23 | Algebra Days, Tempe, AZ |
Oct 2–6, '23 | Varieties from Statistics, IMSI, Chicago, IL |
Jul 10–14, '23 | SIAM Conference on Applied Algebraic Geometry, Eindhoven University of Technology, the Netherlands |
Jul 3–7, '23 | GAeL XXX, University of Warwick, Coventry, UK |
Jun 28–30, '23 | Derived Categories, Hodge theory and Singularities, University of Sheffield, UK |
Apr 14–16, '23 | Syzygies and Regularity, University of Illinois at Chicago, IL |