REU Site: Probability and Discrete Mathematics

East Tennessee State University, Johnson City TN

Investigators

Abstract

This is a renewal of an REU site that has run at MTU and ETSU during the years 1991-2004, and which has had an RET supplement for three of those years. The project title is "Probability and Discrete Mathematics," and project site is East Tennessee State University. There will be 8 students each year and the project will last for 9 weeks. The areas of inquiry will include probability, graph theory, combinatorics, number theory, and algorithms. The project also includes an Ethics component. The intellectual merit of this project is that we will immerse 8 carefully selected students each year in a variety of open-ended research problems in probability and discrete mathematics -- and those at the interface of these two fields. They will travel to a high-visibility professional meeting and present their research. Research standards will correspond to those that students will expect to encounter in a post-PhD world. The broader impacts of this project are as follows: (i) Students will be selected from a variety of institutions and at least 50% will be female; they will thus appreciate the substantial differences that exist in their backgrounds and mathematical training. (ii) Students will derive full benefit from an embedded "ethics in mathematics and science" component. (iii) A determined effort will be made to recruit under-represented students, and students will be teamed with students in Debra Knisley's NSF-MAA-SUMMA REU program which we hope will continue. (iv) Students will notice an increase in their level of confidence and mathematical communication skills. (v) Students will interact by e-mail with some of the best researchers in the world. (vi) Students will meet with an external peer REU group. (vii) Students will act as peer mentors to a group of high school students making the transition both to college and a novel career path -- Quantitative Biomedical Science. These students will be present at an NSF-STEP funded bridge Program at ETSU; will continue as Mathematical Biology majors in the fall; and enjoy four undergraduate research experiences during their baccalaureate years. The site is supported by the Department of Defense in partnership with the NSF REU program.