Summer School on Topological Full Groups of Ample Groupoids

This summer school, running from the 27th to the 31st of July 2026, explores the theory of topological full groups and ample groupoids, with a focus on their connections to Thompson's group V and its generalisations. The programme begins with introductory lectures, developing the basic objects and constructions, and finishes with a series of mini-courses by guest speakers that discuss, amongst other properties, the simplicity, finite generation and homology of various analogues of Thompson's groups.

A recurring theme will be the way in which generalised Thompson's groups serve as unifying objects from several areas of mathematics, including but not limited to dynamics, geometric group theory and homotopy theory. The aim is to give participants a working introduction to the subject, a view of the current state of research in the field, and an opportunity to get in touch with experts and other interested young researchers.

Schedule

The first 2½ days (27th until 29th) will consist of introductory talks on the basic material of ample groupoids and topological full groups. The final 2½ days (29th until 31st) will consist of three series of talks given by the confirmed speakers. In between each pair of talks will be either a coffee or lunch break.

All talks will take place in room -1.014 in the basement of the math building, which is the least overheated lecture room we could find. Please note the sign; we will be in the basement, not the first floor!

	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday
9:00-9:30	Registration
9:30-10:30	The full group of a subshift	Groupoids associated with full inverse semigroups	An introduction to spectra	Collin Bleak, Talk 2	Valerio Proietti
10:30-11:00	Coffee Break	Coffee Break	Coffee Break	Coffee Break	Coffee Break
11:00-12:00	Almost automorphisms of trees and full groups	The correspondence theorem and effective groupoids	Construction of algebraic K-Theory spectra	Yves Cornulier, Talk 2	Collin Bleak, Talk 4
12:00-14:00	Lunch	Lunch	Lunch	Lunch	Lunch
14:00-15:00	Thompson groups	From dynamical systems to etale groupoids	Collin Bleak, Talk 1	Alistair Miller, Talk 2	Yves Cornulier, Talk 4
15:00-15:30	Coffee Break	Coffee Break	Coffee Break	Coffee Break	Coffee Break
15:30-16:30	Etale groupoids	Homology of ample groupoids	Yves Cornulier, Talk 1	Collin Bleak, Talk 3	Alistair Miller, Talk 4
16:30-17:00	Coffee Break	Coffee Break	Coffee Break	Coffee Break
17:00-18:00	Full groups of etale groupoids	Groupoid homology as a derived functor	Alistair Miller, Talk 1	Yves Cornulier, Talk 3
19:00-				Dinner

Speakers

Collin Bleak (University of St Andrews)
Yves de Cornulier (Université Nantes)
Alistair Miller (KU Leuven)
Valerio Proietti (University of Oslo)

Registration

Registration for this school is now open and is free! Visit the link here to register your attendance.

Travel and Accommodation

Details on traveling to Karlsruhe by plane can be found at the following link. From Karlsruhe Hauptbahnhof, the trams 2, S4, S5, S7 and S8 will all travel to Kronenplatz every 10 minutes, which is the closest station to our department.

If you require help finding accommodation for the week, please contact us using the email address below.

Please note that we are unable to provide funding for travel, accommodation and lunches/dinners.

Contact

For any queries about the school, please email nathan.hughes∂kit.edu.