The US-Africa Collaborative Research Network consists of over 40 senior research faculty from US, Sub-Saharan Africa, Canada, and Europe forming 4 research teams in Pure Mathematics (Algebra and Geometry, Analysis and Topology, Coding Theory and Information Theory, and Graph Theory) and 3 research teams in Applied Mathematics (Epidemiological Modeling, Numerical Approximation of Solutions of Partial Differential Equations, and Mathematics of Finance and Statistics). Each team has at least 4 senior research faculty and at least 4 undergraduate and graduate students. Student participants are recruited from across the US and Sub-Saharan Africa. The primary goal of the network is to produce, by the end of the project period, (a) at least 8 high quality new PhDs in the US and a similar number in Sub-Saharan Africa, (b) numerous high quality joint research publications, and (c) several prominent US-Africa research partnerships consisting of researchers from diverse backgrounds; and thus have long lasting impact on mathematical sciences research collaboration and human infrastructure in the US and Sub-Saharan Africa.
The research problems being studied have important applications in industry and government as well as in scientific research. In particular, coding theory, graph theory, and number theoretic problems being studied have applications in security, network coverage, surveillance, and transportation, while algebra, geometry, and analysis problems have applications to mathematical biology, differential equations, finance, and statistics. In turn, problems in mathematical biology and differential equations have applications in the spread of contagious diseases, tumor growth and cell membrane deformation, and biodiversity; and problems in finance and statistics will provide a better understanding of the use of financial mathematical models in developing nations. This award is jointly supported by the Division of Mathematical Sciences and the Office of Multidisicplinary Activities within the Directorate of Mathematical and Physical Sciences.
