Each summer from 2014 to 2016, 9 undergraduate students will participate in an 8 week summer REU Site on Partial Differential Equations and Dynamical Systems held at the Florida Institute of Technology Mathematical Sciences Department. It will be directed by Principal Investigator Ugur Abdulla and two faculty members, and assisted by three graduate students. The REU Site is designed to involve undergraduate students in innovative research in nonlinear partial differential equations, optimal control and inverse problems for systems with distributed parameters, and dynamical systems and chaos theory, while utilizing modern tools of mathematical and numerical analysis. Students will have a great opportunity to pursue hands-on, original research on the frontier of modern mathematics, which will include the evolution of interfaces for nonlinear reaction-diffusion-convection equations, inverse free boundary problems and optimal control of phase transition processes, and the fine classification of minimal periodic orbits of discrete dynamical systems with application in chaos theory.
The REU aims to train a new generation of well-rounded mathematicians to shed light on the mathematical problems which arise by modeling complex real life problems, and attacking them with the complementary tools of theoretical and numerical analysis. At least half of the students will be recruited from underrepresented groups and from colleges with restricted research opportunities. Students will work in three groups of three undergraduates, along with the PI and one or two other faculty mentors, and one graduate mentor. Each group will work on a cutting edge research problem with potential opportunities of new discoveries in the field. All the students will be prepared to present their research results in national conferences and to publish research papers in high level mathematical journals. The REU Site will facilitate a transition from undergraduate to graduate studies in research careers and inform students about job opportunities that are at the intersection of applied mathematics and STEM disciplines.
