Rate My Professor Sungkyung Kang

Dr. Sungkyung Kang is an Assistant Professor and Royal Society University Research Fellow in the Department of Pure Mathematics and Mathematical Statistics, Faculty of Mathematics, University of Cambridge. He is also an Official Fellow at St Catharine's College, Cambridge. A specialist in low-dimensional topology, Kang focuses on the study of three- and four-dimensional manifolds. His research employs advanced techniques including Heegaard Floer homology, involutive Heegaard Floer homology, symplectic geometry, and gauge theory such as Seiberg-Witten theory to address problems in smooth four-manifold topology, exotic diffeomorphisms, stabilizations, and knot concordance.

Kang obtained his B.Sc. and M.Phil. from KAIST and his D.Phil. from the University of Oxford in July 2019. His postdoctoral appointments include positions at the Chinese University of Hong Kong (2019–2020), the IBS Center for Geometry and Physics (2020–2023), and the Titchmarsh Research Fellowship at the University of Oxford (2023–2025). He joined Cambridge in October 2025. Key publications encompass 'Exotic Dehn twists and homotopy coherent group actions' with J. Park and M. Taniguchi (Inventiones mathematicae, 2025, vol. 243); 'Doubled Disks and Satellite Surfaces' with G. Guth, K. Hayden, and J. Park (to appear in Geometry & Topology); 'One stabilization is not enough for contractible 4-manifolds' (arXiv 2022); and 'Cables of the figure-eight knot via real Frøyshov invariants' (arXiv 2024). One collaborative paper received coverage in Quanta Magazine (February 2023). Kang has been awarded the Royal Society University Research Fellowship (2025) and the Frontiers of Science Award (2025). He has delivered plenary talks, including at the East Asian Conference on Geometric Topology (2023), and invited seminars at institutions such as Stanford University and KAIST. His teaching includes supervising Analysis II at St Catharine's College and extensive tutoring in topology, algebra, and analysis at Oxford.