The Mathematics and Statistics Departments at Texas A&M will run an Undergraduate Research in Mathematical Sciences and its Applications Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) site with 60 undergraduate participants from colleges and universities around the country.
At least three parallel summer programs are planned. The first program involves the theory and applications of wavelets. Student participants will have the option to investigate theoretical topics, such as refinable functions and finite frames, or applied topics, such as data compression and filtering. Our second program involves mathematical ecology. Student participants will investigate migratory patterns of competing species with emphasis given to mathematical models that take into account topographical features, such as elevation. Both deterministic models and non-deterministic models (i.e. stochastic) will be investigated. The third area involves computational algebra and algebraic geometry (e.g. fast algorithms for solving polynomial systems) with applications to such areas as mathematical biology (e.g. protein folding) and computer graphics.
Participants will be US citizens or permanent residents who are chosen on merit. Special consideration will be given to participants coming from schools where research opportunities are limited. Women and members of underrepresented groups will be encouraged to apply. Details on the application procedure and on past REU programs at Texas A&M are available at the following web site: www.math.tamu.edu/research/undergrad/REU/
Participants will work on projects either individually or in small groups with oversight and mentoring provided by the faculty organizers: Professors Jay Walton (co-PI in Math), Dave Larson (Math), Paulo Lima-Filho (Math), Maurice Rojas (Math), Henry Schenck (Math) and Tom Wehrly (in Statistics) and with help from postdoctorates and graduate students. At the end of the program, participants will present their results to the entire REU session in a locally held conference. Participants will also be encouraged to present their results at national conferences (e.g. Math Fest, AMS/MAA meetings) as well as to publish their results in professional journals.
The funds from the National Science Foundation will be used to pay stipends, living and travel expenses to undergraduate participants. NSF funds will also be used to pay participants to travel to conferences to present their results.
