REU Site: HWS-REU: Discovering Mathematics in New York State

Hobart And William Smith Colleges, Geneva NY

Investigators

Abstract

Each summer, the Research Experience for Undergraduates program at Hobart and William Smith Colleges (HWS) will provide ten undergraduates a hands-on introduction to mathematics research. The program will be open to students from across the nation, with a particular focus on recruiting a diverse pool of students from public colleges and universities in New York State. Over the course of the nine-week program, participants will gain independence as researchers and develop the skills to present their results to the broader scientific community and the public. Small research teams of students will be formed to pursue research on topics from a wide variety of mathematical fields under the guidance of HWS faculty members expert in these areas. Additionally, a colloquium series and visits to nearby graduate programs will help participants make informed decisions about pursuing a career as a mathematician. The faculty-student relationships built throughout the program will be extended at least two years beyond the REU through formal check-ins by faculty to assist students in career development. Research projects will explore topics in graph theory, algebra or mathematical biology. In graph theory, topics will include the classification of certain subclasses of well-covered graphs and tree labeling problems related to the graceful tree labeling conjecture. In algebra, monomial ideals will be explored through their connection to combinatorial structures such as graphs and their subgraphs. In mathematical biology, participants may work to develop novel algorithms for reconstructing phylogenetic trees from genetic data, use differential equation models to explore the dynamic interaction of viral infections and the immune responses that combat them, or develop and analyze computational models of networks of neural connections within the brain.