REU Site: REU in Discrete and Applied Mathematics

Michigan State University, East Lansing MI

Investigators

Abstract

The REU in Discrete and Applied Mathematics provides an atypical opportunity for students who are an early stage of their study of mathematics to work in small teams under the supervision of faculty mentors to contribute to mathematical research. Students are recruited from minority institutions, public and private universities, and liberal arts colleges, resulting in a diverse group of participants. Students are recruited at an early stage of their college experience where they are open to, but not necessarily committed to, the prospect of a career in the mathematical sciences. Thus, this project contributes directly to a national effort to retain promising and talented students with a strong interest in the mathematical and physical sciences. The program stimulates interest in mathematics via research on accessible open research problems. The students acquire mathematical sophistication and take significant steps towards a career in the mathematical sciences. Students' discoveries contribute to several areas of active research: combinatorial games, knot theory, recursive polynomials, compressive sensing, stochastic processes, topological data analysis, and others. Results are shared in conference presentations and in research publications. Students learn to read research articles; to formulate conjectures and construct examples; to program simulations; to concentrate, listen, and ask questions; to generalize and simplify mathematical arguments; and to disseminate their discoveries. Students are immersed in an environment where the mathematical ideas are new and not fully understood. Students work in one of three separate research groups and present their progress on a weekly basis to the other program participants. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.