REU Sites: DIMACS/DIMATIA U.S./Czech International REU Program

Rutgers University New Brunswick, New Brunswick NJ

Investigators

Abstract

DIMACS, the Center for Discrete Mathematics and Theoretical Computer Science, headquartered at Rutgers University, will run an REU program in collaboration with DIMATIA, the Center for Discrete Mathematics, Theoretical Informatics, and Applications, based at Charles University in Prague, Czech Republic. This program will provide an exciting research experience for undergraduates that will help them decide on future educational and career paths. 17 students from all across the U.S. and from the Czech Republic will be recruited annually. Most of the program will take place at DIMACS, but some of the U.S. students will spend time at DIMATIA and all participants will get a taste of the international scientific enterprise. The program will include a pilot academic-industrial co-mentoring program and will collaborate with a Department of Homeland Security REU program at DIMACS. Scientific fields to be emphasized include graph theory, computational geometry, logic and complexity theory, and combinatorial optimization, with applications to DNA topology, biomedical engineering, epidemiological modeling, economic applications involving e-commerce, information management in massive data sets, etc. Students will be exposed to modern industrial research on network analysis, sensor location, and internet auctions, as well as to homeland security applications of methods of computer science and mathematics. The program will have broader impacts through increasing scientific collaborations between U.S. and Czech researchers and students and, through dissemination of the model, raise the awareness of a large community about opportunities for young people in international cooperation and collaboration. The program will also include career counseling and guidance on how to make presentations and should greatly influence the choices about further education and future careers of the students involved.