The Department of Mathematics at Texas A&M University proposes to support fifteen students per year to participate in their eight week summer research experience for undergraduates program in the mathematical sciences. Three parallel summer programs are planned. The first program involves mathematical biology with emphasis on applications to complex ecosystems, infectious and other diseases. The second program involves the theory and application of wavelets. Wavelets are the basis for state-of-the-art data compression algorithms as applied to high-speed, high bandwidth communication, and audio and video compression technologies. The third area involves computational algebra and algebraic geometry. Applications include understanding the structure of complex macro-molecules such as proteins and DNA, and to solving large systems of polynomial equations which are ubiquitous in engineering and science applications.
Student participation will enhance their training as future research scientists and mathematicians. Participants will present their research findings to a locally held conference as well as being encouraged to present them at national scientific meetings or publish them in journals targeted to undergraduate research. In the selection of participants, priority will be given to students coming from undergraduate programs offering limited access to research opportunities and to students from demographic groups underrepresented in the mathematical sciences.
This site is co-funded by the Department of Defense in partnership with the NSF REU program.
The primary goal of the mathematics Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) program at Texas A&M University is to enable undergraduate students, especially from institutions not offering a Ph.D. degree, to have a meaningful, substantial, extended eight-week, summer engagement with established research mathematicians who encourage and guide them to formulate, study and make progress on mathematical problems arising at the forefront of modern mathematical research. This is a proven strategy for identifying and nurturing mathematical talent present in institutions often overlooked as fertile spawning ground for the next generation of research stars, especially amongst students from demographic groups historically underrepresented in STEM fields. Intellectual Merit. Fifty-nine undergraduate students were supported as participants in the mathematics REU site at Texas A&M University during the summers 2010 – 2012. The research projects were equally divided among the disciplinary areas: algebraic geometry and applications, mathematical biology, and wavelet analysis and applications. These projects resulted in ten conference proceeding articles, twenty-four presentations at national meetings and two at regional meetings, and ten published journal articles. Broader Impact. The mathematics REU site at Texas A&M University had a significant impact upon the training of next generation mathematician and scientists. Among the fifty-nine participants receiving funds from this NSF-REU Site grant, twenty-nine (53%) were female, six (10%) were African American, four (7%) were Hispanic and thirty-seven (63%) came from colleges not offering a Ph.D. in mathematics. The vast majority matriculated to postgraduate study upon completion of their baccalaureate degrees.
