With support received from the VIGRE Program, the Harvard Mathematics Department seeks to sustain and enhance the vertical integration of research and education throughout its programs in light of current trends, pressures, and opportunities. The Department already provides a large array of activities that quite effectively promote interactions among different groups -- undergraduate and graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, junior and senior faculty, visitors, researchers, teachers, experts in applied areas -- both in the realm of mathematical research and in the graduate and undergraduate curricula. Examples include an active mathematics club, small group tutorial classes, intensive undergraduate advising about courses, theses and careers, expository and research seminar series, workshops, conferences, special lectures, and pedagogical training for graduate students conducted in cooperation with the Derek Bok Center for Teaching and Learning.
Participation in the aforementioned activities is common, enthusiastic, and well-distributed among all the existing groups within the Department. VIGRE funds will not only maintain the quantity and variety of these successful ongoing endeavors but also introduce new options and opportunities. The key features of the Harvard VIGRE program reflect the Department's desire to extend and enrich the experiences of all its constituents across boundaries of academic age and departmental standing. Graduate students are particularly essential to vertical integration, and new traineeships will prevent the number of doctoral students the Department is able to accommodate from dropping below critical mass. Undergraduate research experiences will be expanded to include support for students, instructors, and practitioners to work together not just during the academic year but during a VIGRE summer REU program as well. A new postdoctoral associate program will explicitly help young mathematicians prepare for the full range of professional responsibilities they face both on campus and off. A thorough review conducted by our curriculum committee will address the coherence, relevance, dovetailing, and boundary conditions of our course offerings. VIGRE funds will also support the gathering and analysis of data concerning retention, placement, time to degree, minority representation, and other measures of success in the vertical integration of research and education at Harvard and other institutions.
Funding for this award is provided by the Division of Mathematical Sciences and the MPS Directorate's Office of Multidisciplinary Activities.
