Mathematics page of A.C. COJOCARU

About

A.C. Cojocaru is a research mathematician working in the field of number theory, with a focus on questions about primes in arithmetic-geometric settings (such as those defined by abelian varieties and Drinfeld modules).

Originally from Romania, Cojocaru obtained the degrees of Bachelor of Science (Diploma de Licență) and Master of Science (Diploma de Magister) from the Faculty of Mathematics of the University of Bucharest in 1996 and 1997, respectively. As a recipient of merit-based scholarships, Cojocaru participated in courses in non-commutative algebra and algebraic geometry at the Mathematics Summer School of the University of Perugia, Italy, in 1995, and completed her Master of Science thesis in non-commutative algebra under the mentorship of Professor Patrick F. Smith in the Department of Mathematics at the University of Glasgow, Scotland, in 1997. Between 1996-1998, Cojocaru was appointed by Professor Nicolae Radu as junior faculty in the Department of Algebra and Number Theory at the Faculty of Mathematics of the University of Bucharest.

Between 1998-2002, Cojocaru studied as a doctoral student in the Department of Mathematics and Statistics at Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario, Canada, under the mentorship of Professor Ernst Kani and Professor M. Ram Murty. Cojocaru's doctoral thesis, Cyclicity of elliptic curves modulo p, completed under Murty's direction, investigates properties of the cyclic reductions modulo primes of an elliptic curve.

Since 1998, Cojocaru has held long-term (tenure-track/tenured) academic appointments in the Department of Mathematics II of the Polytechnic University of Bucharest (1998-2002), the Institute of Mathematics "Simion Stoilov'' of the Romanian Academy (2002-present), and the Department of Mathematics, Statistics and Computer Science at the University of Illinois at Chicago/UIC (2006-present). Cojocaru's primary academic base is UIC, where she works as a Professor of Mathematics.

Upon being awarded the doctoral degree (Doctor of Philosophy) in mathematics, Cojocaru has also held several short-term research positions, including:

Member, Centre de Recherches Mathématiques, Montréal, Québec, Canada (2002)
Scientific Researcher, The Fields Institute for Research in Mathematical Sciences, Toronto, Ontario, Canada (2002-2003, 2006)
Postdoctoral Fellow, Microsoft Research, Cryptography Group, Redmond, Washington, USA (2003)
Postdoctoral Fellow, Princeton University, Department of Mathematics, Princeton, New Jersey, USA (2003-2006)
Scientific Researcher, Mathematical Sciences Research Institute, Berkeley, California, USA (2006)
Visiting Scientist, Max Planck Institute for Mathematics, Bonn, Germany (2007, 2009)
Member, Institute for Advanced Study, School of Mathematics, Princeton, New Jersey, USA (2010)
Scientific Researcher, University of Göttingen, Institute of Mathematics, Göttingen, Germany (2012)
Shapiro Visiting Scholar, Pennsylvania State University, Department of Mathematics, State College, Pennsylvania, USA (2013).

In addition, Cojocaru has held appointments as Associate Editor of the International Journal of Number Theory (2009-2023), Associate Editor of Journal of Number Theory (2018-present), and Member at Large of the American Mathematical Society Council (2021-2024).

Over the past 20 years, Cojocaru has given numerous invited talks at research seminars and conferences across Asia, Europe, and North America, including plenary presentations at the Canadian Mathematical Society Winter Meeting in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada (2003), the Journées Arithmétiques in Vilnius, Lithuania (2011), and the Central Meeting of the American Mathematical Society in Lincoln, Nebraska, USA (2011). Other honors include the Doctoral Prize conferred by the Canadian Mathematical Society, the University Faculty Award conferred by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, the Țițeica Prize conferred by the Romanian Academy, and the Career Award conferred by the National Science Foundation of USA.