REU Site: Interdisciplinary Scientific Computation at Ohio Wesleyan University

Ohio Wesleyan University, Delaware OH

Investigators

Abstract

This award supports the renewal of the Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) site at Ohio Wesleyan University. Each undergraduate participant will work on a ten-week research project under the guidance of an Ohio Wesleyan University faculty member in one of the following disciplines: physics, astronomy, computer science, mathematics/statistics, or neuroscience. The program will help to develop a better infrastructure for research and education, and develop the STEM workforce that is needed for the Nation. The projects will focus on one or more aspects of scientific computation, such as: numerical (coding in a "traditional" programming language), symbolic (using a computer algebra program such as Mathematica®), and data visualization. An important goal of the REU site is to make participants aware of the ability of computational techniques to cross disciplinary boundaries. Weekly meetings, in which individual research groups give progress reports and all participants are able to discuss the projects, will foster a sense of community among the participants and point out the strengths of computational techniques to tackle problems in varying disciplines. A series of weekly, half-hour, faculty-led seminars will introduce participants to widely used computational tools. A research symposium will be held at the end of the research period for participants to present their results.