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How to Build a Personal Academic Website as a Math Student

A step-by-step guide to building a personal academic website as a mathematics student: why you need one, what to include, which tools to use, and how to host it for free using GitHub Pages, Hugo, or other platforms.

Tools Career

Why You Need an Academic Website

A personal academic website is one of the most valuable things you can build as a mathematics student. It serves as:

Your professional identity online. When people search your name, your website should be the first result.
A portfolio of your work. Papers, notes, talks, code, and projects in one place.
A signal of professionalism. Graduate programs, postdoc committees, and employers check candidates' websites.
A platform for sharing mathematics. Blog posts, expository notes, and teaching materials.

You do not need to be a professional web developer. With modern tools, you can build a clean, professional website in an afternoon and host it for free.

What to Include

Essential Pages

Every academic website should have:

1. Home / About

Your name, institution, department
Your research interests (even if tentative)
A professional photo
Contact information (university email)

2. CV / Resume

Education
Research experience
Publications and preprints (with links)
Teaching experience
Awards and fellowships
Skills (programming languages, mathematical software)

Provide both an HTML version and a downloadable PDF.

3. Research

List of papers and preprints with:
- Title, coauthors, and publication status
- Links to arXiv, journal, or PDF
- Brief descriptions (one sentence per paper)

4. Teaching (if applicable)

Courses you have taught or TA'd
Office hours and course materials
Student feedback or evaluations

Optional but Valuable Pages

5. Notes and Expository Writing

Lecture notes you have written
Expository articles on topics you have studied
Solutions to interesting problems

6. Blog

Mathematical exposition
Research updates
Reflections on learning and studying mathematics

7. Talks and Presentations

Slides or recordings from talks you have given
Posters presented at conferences

8. Links and Resources

Useful tools and references for other students in your area

Start small. You do not need all of these pages immediately. Begin with a home page, CV, and one or two other sections. You can always add more later.

Choosing a Platform

Option 1: Hugo + GitHub Pages (Recommended)

Hugo is a fast, flexible static site generator that is very popular among academics. Combined with GitHub Pages for free hosting, this is the most common setup for academic websites in mathematics.

Pros:

Completely free (no hosting costs)
Full control over content and design
Write content in Markdown with LaTeX math support
Excellent academic themes available
Version controlled with Git

Cons:

Requires some command-line familiarity
Initial setup takes 1–2 hours

Recommended Hugo themes for academics:

Academic (Wowchemy) — The most popular academic Hugo theme. Features sections for publications, talks, courses, and a blog. Highly customizable.
PaperMod — A clean, minimal theme that works well for simple academic sites.

Option 2: Jekyll + GitHub Pages

Jekyll is another static site generator supported natively by GitHub Pages. It was the original default for GitHub Pages and remains popular.

Recommended themes:

al-folio — Specifically designed for academics. Beautiful, feature-rich, and actively maintained. Supports publications, blog posts, teaching pages, and more.
Minimal Mistakes — A flexible, well-documented theme.

Best choice for most math students: The al-folio theme with Jekyll on GitHub Pages. It is designed specifically for academics, includes publication management, supports LaTeX math rendering, and has excellent documentation.

Option 3: Quarto

Quarto is a newer publishing system that supports Markdown, LaTeX, and executable code. It can generate websites, documents, and presentations from the same source files.

Pros:

Excellent LaTeX math rendering
Can include executable Python, R, or Julia code in pages
Modern and actively developed
Good integration with Jupyter notebooks

Option 4: WordPress or Squarespace

If you want a simpler setup and do not mind limited customization:

WordPress.com — Free tier available. Many academic plugins. LaTeX support via plugins.
Squarespace — Beautiful templates, very easy to use, but paid ($16+/month).

Option 5: Simple HTML

You can always write a simple HTML page with CSS. Many accomplished mathematicians have very simple websites that are just a few HTML pages. If your content is good, a fancy design is not necessary.

Setting Up Hugo + GitHub Pages

Here is a concise walkthrough:

Step 1: Install Hugo

# macOS
brew install hugo

# Linux (Ubuntu/Debian)
sudo apt install hugo

# Windows (with Chocolatey)
choco install hugo

Step 2: Create a New Site

hugo new site my-website
cd my-website

Step 3: Add a Theme

git init
git submodule add https://github.com/HugoBlox/hugo-blox-builder.git themes/hugo-blox-builder

Or choose a different theme from themes.gohugo.io.

Step 4: Add Content

Create pages in the content/ directory using Markdown:

---
title: "About Me"
---

I am a graduate student in mathematics at [University Name].
My research interests include algebraic topology and
homotopy theory.

I am currently studying the stable homotopy groups of spheres
using chromatic methods.

Step 5: Add LaTeX Math Support

Most academic Hugo themes support LaTeX math rendering through KaTeX or MathJax. In your content:

The Euler characteristic of a surface of genus $g$ is

$$\chi = 2 - 2g.$$

Step 6: Deploy to GitHub Pages

Create a repository named username.github.io on GitHub
Push your Hugo site to this repository
Set up GitHub Actions to build and deploy automatically

GitHub provides detailed instructions at docs.github.com/en/pages.

Your site will be live at https://username.github.io.

Writing Mathematical Content for the Web

LaTeX Math Rendering

For mathematical websites, you need a way to render LaTeX notation in the browser:

KaTeX — Fast rendering, supports most common LaTeX math commands. Preferred for performance.
MathJax — More comprehensive LaTeX support, slightly slower. Handles virtually any LaTeX math command.

Most academic themes include one of these by default.

Writing Blog Posts with Mathematics

Markdown with LaTeX math support lets you write posts naturally:

## The Basel Problem

Euler proved in 1734 that

$$\sum_{n=1}^{\infty} \frac{1}{n^2} = \frac{\pi^2}{6}.$$

This result was remarkable because it connected
the sum of reciprocal squares — a purely arithmetic
object — to $\pi$, a geometric constant.

Tip: Always test your math rendering after deploying. Some LaTeX commands that work in your documents may not be supported by KaTeX or MathJax. Stick to standard commands from amsmath and amssymb.

Custom Domain Names

While username.github.io works fine, a custom domain looks more professional:

janedoe.com
janedoe-math.com
math.janedoe.com

Domain names cost $10–15/year from registrars like:

GitHub Pages supports custom domains with free HTTPS. Follow the GitHub Pages custom domain guide.

Examples of Good Academic Websites

Looking at existing academic websites is the best way to get ideas. Here are some well-designed examples from the mathematics community:

Terence Tao (terrytao.wordpress.com) — Blog-focused, content-rich
Emily Riehl (emilyriehl.github.io) — Clean, well-organized with publications and teaching
Evan Chen (web.evanchen.cc) — Extensive personal site with notes, handouts, and a blog
Tai-Danae Bradley (math3ma.com) — Beautiful design combining a blog with research information

Browse the websites of faculty and graduate students at mathematics departments you admire. Note what you find useful and appealing.

SEO and Discoverability

You want your website to appear when someone searches your name. Basic steps:

Use your real name in the page title and headings
Add metadata (title, description) to every page
Link to your website from your university profile, Google Scholar, ORCID, and social media
Submit your site to Google Search Console (search.google.com/search-console)
Keep content updated — search engines favor active sites

Academic Profiles to Link From Your Website

Maintain profiles on these platforms and link them from your website:

Google Scholar — Create a profile to track your publications and citations
ORCID — Get a unique researcher identifier
arXiv Author Page — Automatically generated based on your arXiv submissions
GitHub — Your code and project portfolio
MathSciNet Author Profile — Automatically generated when you publish reviewed papers
LinkedIn — Important if you are considering industry positions

Maintaining Your Website

Update Regularly

At minimum, update your website when:

You post a new paper
You start or finish a position
You give a talk
Your contact information changes

Back Up Your Content

If using GitHub Pages, your content is already version-controlled. For WordPress or Squarespace, set up regular backups.

Keep the Design Simple

Mathematical content is the focus. A clean, readable design with good typography is far better than a flashy, distracting layout. Prioritize:

Readable fonts (serif for body text, sans-serif for headings)
Good contrast
Responsive design (works on mobile)
Fast loading times

Timeline for Building Your Website

Timeline	Task
Day 1	Choose a platform, install tools, pick a theme
Day 1	Create home page with name, institution, interests, photo
Day 2	Add CV page and research page
Week 1	Add teaching or notes section
Ongoing	Write occasional blog posts or add new papers
Eventually	Get a custom domain

Final Thoughts

A personal academic website is a long-term investment in your career. It takes a few hours to set up and minimal ongoing effort to maintain, but it pays dividends in visibility, professionalism, and community connection.

Start today. Your future self will thank you.

References

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