REU Site: Probability, Combinatorics, and Graph Theory

East Tennessee State University, Johnson City TN

Investigators

Abstract

The goal of NSF's Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) Program is for site leaders to take undergraduate participants from a relatively dependent status, as a researcher, to as independent a status as their abilities warrant. The Project Director at this site, Anant Godbole, will use this as a guiding principle at every stage of the program, as he has during the past eighteen years as an REU site director. At East Tennessee State University, eight undergraduate students from a diverse set of backgrounds and schools will work alongside two elementary or high school teachers in the summers of 2010, 2011, and 2012, and conduct original research in probability theory, statistics, or discrete mathematics. Their work will be presented, as appropriate, at the premier annual mathematics conference in the nation, and half of the work is expected to be published in a peer reviewed mathematics or statistics journal. The research problems selected for the students will be contemporary; difficult but tractable; of interest to the wider mathematical community; and lead to more questions with every successfully proven new result. Consequently, students will get a taste of what research is really like, and be able to make an informed decision as to whether they ought to pursue research careers. Our nation is facing the most serious crisis in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) education since the 1950's. Ensuring diversity in STEM education, enhancing K-12 teacher training in content areas, and guaranteeing a steady increase in STEM professionals at all levels are three areas of critical national importance. With this in mind, we will strive to recruit more minority participants than in the past; maintain the gender ratio at 1:1 as before; select students from a diverse set of schools; have REU students develop a symbiotic relation with students participating in other NSF Programs on campus (particularly the NSF-STEP and NSF-Noyce Programs both of which were recipients of significant funds through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009); and have K-12 teachers involved in serious research that they may use to inspire students in their classrooms, mostly in high poverty districts. Anant Godbole may be contacted at 423-534-6209 or at godbolea@etsu.edu. The web address (URL) for information about the REU Site is www.etsu.edu/cas/math/activities/reu.aspx.