This award will support Dr. M. Helena Noronha of the California State University at Northridge to organize an International Research Experience for Students (IRES) program in mathematics together with Dr. Helena J. Nussenzveig-Lopes of the State University of Campinas (UNICAMP) in Brazil. This program builds on an earlier international Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) collaboration with Brazilian mathematicians and extends it to another student population, namely, senior undergraduates and beginning graduate students. Each year for three summers seven U.S. students will travel to Brazil to work with seven Brazilian students on problems in applied mathematics, partial differential equations, differential geometry, and algebra. Each U.S. participant will work in a team and be instructed by a mentor from Brazil, and each will stay with a Brazilian family rather than live in a dormitory.
This IRES will provide U.S. students with an international experience in Brazil, a country with a good tradition of mathematics research. This activity will allow a group of U.S. students to engage in sophisticated research projects while developing an appreciation for how mathematics is learned, taught, spoken, done and presented in another culture. It will also help forge relationships between young researchers from both North and South America in the early stages of their careers. Through this high-level program, students will go from general course work to independent research, experiencing the excitement of discovery, developing mathematical maturity, and broadening their vision of mathematics.
