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Qimin Wang is a PhD student whose research focuses on partial differential equations and geophysical fluid dynamics. His thesis work studies the three-dimensional primitive equations, the fundamental models of large-scale oceanic and atmospheric motion. In a coauthored paper, he establishes global existence and uniqueness of strong solutions in bounded domains with full viscosity but only horizontal thermal diffusion. He also proves that solutions starting from more regular initial data (in the Sobolev space H^2) preserve that regularity for all time. A central challenge is controlling vertical heat transport without vertical thermal diffusion while accommodating no-slip conditions along the bottom and sidewalls. He further extends the theory to domains with varying depth, using a thermal diffusion operator adapted to layers that follow the bottom topography. In this setting, he obtains global strong solutions and, under an additional geometric condition where the bottom meets the sidewalls, persistence of higher regularity.

It's time to plan your funding source (TA-ship, RA-ship, Fellowship, or Other) for the Spring 2027 semester. Please complete this form by Friday, October 23, 2026. This will help us with administrative procedures required to issue your Spring 2027 assistantship or fellowship stipends on time.

You can access the form here: https://forms.gle/Pox8fBWkZg3jFMcj9

If you are interested in receiving a Research Assistantship from your faculty advisor, please speak with them BEFORE filling out this form to confirm if they can offer you an RA-ship.

If you have any questions, email Alexis Teodoro at ateodoro@usc.edu.

USC Dornsife invites applications for our 2027-2029 cohort of Dornsife fellows with a start date of August 16, 2027. Each year Dornsife will admit six fellows, who are appointed for one two-year term during which they teach five General Education seminars per academic year. They are expected to reside in the Los Angeles area during the academic year and to participate in the scholarly life of the Dornsife Ph.D. Academy, the host department, and the university. The salary for fellows is $80,000 per year plus fringe benefits.

The course topics for General Education seminars fall in the areas of Arts, Humanistic Inquiry, Social Analysis, Life Sciences, Physical Sciences and Quantitative Reasoning. The General Education Program is designed to provide undergraduate students with the interdisciplinary skills and knowledge necessary to meet the challenges of a globalized world and the demands of a satisfying personal life. 

To apply for the 2027-2029 cohort, candidates must have received their PhD from a USC Dornsife department or program within the last five years and must have completed their doctoral degree by August 15, 2027. Applicants from all disciplines and fields are encouraged to apply.

In order to be considered for this position, applicants are required to submit an electronic USC application; follow this job link or paste in a browser: https://usccareers.usc.edu/job/los-angeles/dornsife-fellows-in-general-education/1209/101416127552 .

To apply, please submit:

The deadline to apply is December 4, 2026. Further inquiries can be routed to Richard Fliegel, Associate Dean for Undergraduate Programs, fliegel@usc.edu.

Every summer, SLMath organizes several summer graduate schools (usually two weeks each), some of which are held at SLMath and others at partner institutions around the world. Attending one of these schools can be a very motivating and exciting experience for a student; participants have often said that it was the first experience where they felt like real mathematicians, interacting with other students and mathematicians in their field.

For more information: https://www.slmath.org/summer-schools

Internal applications are due by November 15 

You can access the application form here: https://forms.gle/hkdf3MSfkYxdNKCL9

Your demographic information is requested by SLMath and will not affect our selection of nominees for this program. 

The Spring Graduate Exams registration form is now open! The Mathematics Graduate Exams will be offered between January 6-8, 2027.

You can change your selections up until December 1, 2026.

The Department of Mathematics is pleased to offer the following awards annually. Students must complete this form and identify the award they are being nominated for, the name of the faculty member nominating them, CV, and Teaching or Research Statement. 

Research Awards

Teaching Awards

Students must be nominated by their faculty advisor for a Research Award or an instructor for a Teaching Award. 

Faculty members should be asked to email nomination letters to PhD Student Services Advisor, Alexis Teodoro at ateodoro@usc.edu. Additional documents should be submitted by the student to this form. All materials must be submitted by November 1. 

The Rockwell Dennis Hunt Scholastic Award honors USC graduate students whose undergraduate degree is from USC. The $5,000 award is bestowed at the USC Honors Convocation. Applicants must meet the following criteria:

Competitive candidates will demonstrate the following:

Applications are due through the Graduate School by Monday, November 16, 2026 at 11:59pm.

The online application can be found by clicking here.

One letter of recommendation must be included with the online application by Monday, November 16, 2026 at 11:59pm.

To recognize our current PhD students’ academic professional development, The Graduate School will provide USC PhD Achievement Awards for students with exceptional academic profiles. Six awards of $5,000 will be made to students from across the university. Each recipient’s primary faculty advisor will receive a $500 USC Graduate School PhD Mentoring award. 

Current students from every PhD program at USC are eligible. Students must be registered to receive the award.  Ideally students will be registered in spring 2027, but if they are graduating in December other arrangements for processing the award will need to be made.  The award is for exceptional achievement as a USC PhD student. The student’s overall profile as a doctoral candidate may include such elements as significant publications as the sole or primary author; major awards in a broadly conceived field; and other markers of excellence appropriate to the student’s field.

The application for the award includes the following: 

Submissions will be reviewed by an interdisciplinary faculty committee. Recipients of the USC PhD Achievement Awards will be invited to the USC Academic Honors Convocation and will lead the column of PhD graduates at the university commencement.

Students will not apply to the Graduate School directly, but are expected to submit application materials to Alexis Teodoro, PhD Student Services Advisor, at ateodoro@usc.edu no later than Sunday, November 1st at 11:59pm. Please note that programs may only nominate one candidate per program.

The Dornsife PhD Academy will be hosting their next and final event of the semester on Sharing Your Scholarship: Publishing on The Conversation!

Learn how to share your research with audiences beyond academia through The Conversation. Guest speaker, Eric Zack, Chief Partnership Officer for The Conversation, joined by Ph.D. student contributors, will offer practical guidance and firsthand insights on developing ideas, writing for a public audience, and publishing your scholarship on the platform. 

Refreshments, snacks, and dinner (pizza - first come, first served) will be served. Please register to confirm your attendance.

For those who plan to join on Zoom, please join the Zoom link below by 6:00pm.

Zoom Meeting Link
Meeting ID: 913 3196 4238
Passcode: 986339

P.S. This event counts towards attendance for the Ph.D. Academy Scholarship and Research Fund. Last chance for attendance for the fall semester!