REU Site: Emerging Scholars Program

St Mary'S College Of Maryland, Saint Marys City MD

Investigators

Abstract

This award supports the Emerging Scholars Program at St. Mary's College of Maryland that builds on the 30-plus-year success record of Research Experience for Undergraduates: Emerging Scholars programs, helping underrepresented students prepare for the mathematics major, for graduate school, and for careers in a Science Technology Engineering and/or Mathematics related field. In seven-week sessions during summers of 2016, 2018 and 2020, twelve students will work with professors at St. Mary's College of Maryland to research a variety of mathematical questions, including problems of interest to epidemiologists, optical engineers, and data analysts. By recruiting students from underrepresented groups who are only one or two years into their college careers, this program provides a formative research experience for its participants. Participants of this ESP-REU program will engage in research projects in areas of Discrete Models in Epidemiology, Applied Optics, Discrete Geometry, Game Theory, Image Analysis, and Knot Theory that have been carefully chosen by faculty mentors. Students will participate in regular seminars designed to prepare them for upper-level mathematics courses. In addition, students will attend academic support sessions on scientific writing and communication, making effective mathematics presentations, applying to future REUs, selecting and applying to graduate programs, and finding and applying to STEM-related jobs.