Laura Schaposnik

I am a Professor of Mathematics at the University of Illinois Chicago. My research lies at the interface of geometry, topology, and mathematical physics, with a focus on moduli spaces of decorated bundles, Higgs bundles, Hitchin systems, branes, and geometric structures, together with applications of geometric thinking to complex systems in science and society.

I received my Licenciada en Matemáticas from the University of La Plata and my DPhil from the University of Oxford under the supervision of Nigel Hitchin. I was then a postdoctoral researcher at Heidelberg University in Anna Wienhard’s group and at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign in Steve Bradlow’s group. I moved to Chicago to take up a faculty position at UIC in 2015. I live with my family in downtown Chicago.

My research focuses on the study of geometric properties of different spaces:

Geometry, moduli spaces, and Higgs bundles.
I study the geometry and topology of moduli spaces of decorated bundles, especially Higgs bundles and Hitchin systems, and the geometric structures they parametrize. This work connects algebraic and differential geometry, Lie theory, representation theory, and mathematical physics.

Geometry across science and society.
A second direction in my work uses geometric and network-theoretic ideas to study complex systems, including models related to viruses, collective behavior, social dynamics, and sustainability.

Simplicity inside complexity.
A recurring theme in my research is that, in complex systems, small changes can have unpredictable effects. I often begin by isolating simple geometric or dynamical mechanisms, then use them to build toward richer applications.

My research has appeared in leading journals in geometry, mathematical physics, and applied mathematics, including the Journal of Differential Geometry, Transactions of the AMS, Communications in Mathematical Physics, Advances in Theoretical and Mathematical Physics, Nature’ Scientific Reports and Proceedings of the Royal Society A.

During the Fall 2022 I was a visiting professor at the Department of Mathematics of the University of California, Berkeley, and a Research Professor at MSRI, Berkeley, USA. During the Spring 2023 I was a Visiting Fellow at All Souls College, Oxford , and a visiting member of the Mathematical Institute, at the University of Oxford. During the summer 2023 I was in Paris, partly as a visiting member of the Institut Henri Poincaré. During the Fall 2026 I will be a visiting faculty member at the Mathematical Institute, University of Oxford, and a visiting fellow at Magdalen College, Oxford.

I am in the editorial board of Notices of the AMS, and of Geometriae Dedicata. Since 2026 I am also in the Governing Board of the Institute of the Mathematical Sciences of the Americas (IMSA).

My research at UIC has been supported by the following sources: NSF FRG Award DMS- 2152107 (PI), 2022-2027; Simons Fellowship (PI), 2022-2023; NSF CAREER Award DMS 1749013 (PI), 2018-2027; Alexander von Humboldt Fellowship (PI), 2017-2019; NSF Award DMS 1611835 (PI), 2015-2019;

I also enjoy building public mathematical resources, including an interactive Hitchin genealogy tree and a travel guide to La Plata, as well as my Interactive work travel map.

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Photo credit: Max Telford, All Souls' Visiting Fellows Farewell night, June 2023.