Conference: The Polymath Jr Program

Cuny Baruch College, New York NY

Investigators

Abstract

The Polymath Jr is an online summer program that provides hundreds of college students the opportunity to participate in mathematical research. This highly inclusive program allows each participant to choose their level of involvement. The program presents a wide variety of mathematical research projects. Each project is mentored by a professor with additional support by graduate students. The program supports many students who otherwise have no opportunity to explore their mathematical potential. The participants learn how mathematical research is conducted, and many also publish papers in research journals. Many continue to graduate school and to mathematical careers. The Polymath Jr program will include research projects in number theory, combinatorics, topology, algebra, probability, complex analysis, machine learning, math education, and much more. Different projects also have different styles of research work, allowing each student to join a project that is a good fit for them. We focus on problems that consist of separate parts at different levels of difficulty. The staggered projects allow supporting groups of students with varied mathematical backgrounds. The program also includes a component for training graduate students to mentor undergraduate research projects and run research groups. 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.