REU Site: Team Research in Computational and Applied Mathematics (TRiCAM)

Harvard University, Cambridge MA

Investigators

Abstract

The Team Research in Computational and Applied Mathematics (TRiCAM) REU program aims to give students an experience in real-world collaborative problem solving, challenging them to apply mathematics and computation to tackle team projects posed by Harvard faculty and industrial partners. Projects will involve the application of computational and mathematical tools such as machine learning, data analysis, and numerical simulation to solve problems in fields such as geoscience, medicine, materials science, and the social sciences. Topics will be chosen to appeal to a wide population of students who are at early stages of their academic development, and who have limited awareness of the vast range of potential career paths in applied mathematics and computational science. The program's team-based approach to research will teach students an appreciation for scientific collaboration, prepare them for future employment, and provide opportunities to practice conflict resolution skills. Ultimately the program will help develop a new generation of collaborative scientists and engineers who are excited about applying computation and mathematics to solve interdisciplinary, real-world problems. This REU project will support four teams of undergraduate students for ten weeks each summer as they gain both the mathematical, computational, and statistical skills necessary to tackle a research problem, and real-world experience of working in a team-based collaborative environment. The summer will be divided into four phases: a two-week orientation where teams formulate a statement of work for summer in response to the problem posed by the faculty or industrial sponsor, two three-week work periods, the first resulting in a midterm report submitted to the sponsor, and the second focused on responding to feedback from the midterm report, and a one-week completion phase where teams prepare final reports and presentations to both the sponsors and the larger Harvard REU community. Students will be selected for teams based on their individual academic strengths and for their potential fit as a member of a team and for a particular project. The program will focus on students for whom this will be an early, even perhaps a first, experience with research, by targeted recruiting at historically black colleges and non-research institutions.