SACNAS Scientific Symposia Sessions in Mathematics; Gaylord Resort & Conference Center, MD - October 2015

Moravian University, Bethlehem PA

Investigators

Abstract

The 2015 SACNAS National Conference will be held October 29-31 at the Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center, Maryland. This award will support participants at two scientific symposia. The Society for the Advancement of Chicanos and Native Americans in Science (SACNAS) is a society of scientists dedicated to fostering the success of Hispanic/Chicano and Native American scientists from college students to professionals to attain advanced degrees, careers, and positions of leadership in science. One way SACNAS strives to achieve their goals is through their annual National Conference, whose programming includes scientific symposia sessions featuring talks by members of the scientific research community. The purpose of these sessions is to present research from diverse disciplines, share advanced research and discoveries, interact with attendees, and mentor science students. As part of this special program the PIs will organize scientific symposia in the mathematical sciences; specifically, they will organize three sessions dealing with research in abstract algebra at the undergraduate, graduate and postgraduate level. These scientific symposia sessions address a variety of broader impacts. First, by organizing these sessions during one of the nations largest conferences for Hispanics and Native Americans, the PIs will reach students and professionals from traditionally underrepresented groups in academia. These participants will have the opportunity to see and contribute to current mathematical research presented at the 2015 SACNAS National Conference. In addition, conference participants will be able to hear from mathematicians who have mentored and advised students in numerous mathematical research projects; hence giving participants an opportunity to hear about possible research projects and meet new mentors and/or advisers. The undergraduate session, "Abstract Algebra research topics for undergraduates," will introduce algebra research topics that are accessible to students with a post-calculus background. Emphasis will be placed on providing a wide range of interesting problems so to encourage undergraduates to continue their studies and motivate them to pursue further research and work in mathematics. The graduate session, "On my way to becoming an algebraist" will invite underrepresented graduate students to present research talks, thus providing them with a venue to present their scholarly work, network with other researchers, and gain the opportunity for collaboration and furthering their current projects. The postgraduate session, "Algebra: much more than arithmetic" will introduce cutting edge mathematical research done by mathematicians from underrepresented groups as well as provide a venue to meet and interact with researchers interested in mentoring underrepresented students in mathematics. The design of the sessions include four speakers per scientific symposia, allowing for 12 talks with topics in abstract algebra at a wide range of mathematical levels. By providing mathematical talks at a wide range of mathematical levels, the sessions aim to increase interest among conference attendees. In addition, at least 75% of presenters in each session will be from groups underrepresented in the mathematical sciences. The conference website is http://sacnas.org/events/national-conf