REU Site: Research Experiences for Undergraduates in Mathematics at Indiana University

Indiana University, Bloomington IN

Investigators

Abstract

This award supports the Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) site in the Department of Mathematics at Indiana University, Bloomington. The program will offer an intensive summer research experience for talented undergraduates working with internationally recognized faculty on unique projects. By providing a well-balanced and structured environment together with milestones for both oral exposition and written reports of results, the IU REU lays the groundwork for student success in their projects. Participant success is further encouraged by the fostering of an intense and collaborative work environment, and most importantly regular working sessions with mentors. In addition to the abstract problem-solving skills gained by the participants, their professional development is enhanced through regular research presentations by faculty members, LaTeX writing workshops, and other similar opportunities. The Indiana University REU program provides an immersive environment with a mentorship-oriented approach to research. Nine students will work one-on-one or in small groups with faculty members, spending eight weeks on IU campus tackling carefully selected research problems. These problems are unsolved, accessible, and mathematically significant. Topics in pure mathematics are chosen from a broad swath of fields including differential equations, quantum groups, combinatorial design theory, logic, quaternionic analysis, functional analysis, and several more. Topics in applied mathematics are drawn from areas in quantum mechanics (such as self-adjoint extensions of Dirac operators) and areas of statistics (such as evaluating statistical approximate methods). Housed together in a dormitory and sharing common office space, students benefit from being immersed in mathematics collectively and from the spontaneous collaboration that naturally follows. Students disseminate their findings by delivering presentations at a statewide undergraduate mathematics research conference, giving formal lectures to peers, faculty, and graduate students, and writing a formal self-contained research report detailing their findings. Some of these reports are expected to develop into peer-reviewed research papers. 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.