This award provides funds for an 8 week REU in mathematics at Brigham Young University (BYU) for 12 students during the summers of 2008-2011. The program will consist of 3 research groups each consisting of 4 undergraduate students, 1 faculty mentor, and 1 graduate student assistant. The research topics will be selected from areas related to the PI's expertise and experience. These areas are: area minimization; Steiner problems; minimal surfaces; mathematical physics, and matrix theory. The objectives of this program are: (1) to engage undergraduate students in research in advanced mathematics; (2) to motivate undergraduate students, especially female students and students from institutions with limited research opportunities, to attend graduate school in mathematics; and (3) to prepare participants to be successful in graduate school.
The participants will be researching open problems in mathematics. The PIs are successful in conducting research in these areas and in mentoring undergraduates. To help students experience the process and excitement of doing research, students will first be given a series of introductory lectures. Also they will work individually and as a group on challenging research problems with the faculty mentors. Students will write periodic research reports including a final paper and give weekly oral presentations about their research. An objective of this program is to encourage female undergraduates and undergraduates from institutions with limited research opportunities to attend graduate school in mathematics. We will recruit from these groups. Also, we want to provide the students with skills that will help them in their research and in graduate school. To do this, we will offer training sessions in computers, seminars on needed research skills, and discussions on graduate school.
