The UCLA Institute for Pure and Applied Mathematics (IPAM) will offer Research in Industrial Projects (RIPS)- Beijing, a summer program for undergraduates, starting in 2007. The goal is to integrate an international research experience with the established and successful RIPS format. The students will gain not only a better appreciation for the applications of math and the demands of industrial research, but will also benefit from an international research experience.
Microsoft Research Asia (MSRA) will sponsor five projects, each involving cutting-edge mathematics, at Microsoft's Beijing facility. Ten U.S. students and 10 Chinese students will work on teams of four, with two members from each country. Each team will have a faculty mentor (recruited by IPAM) and an industry mentor (representing the MSRA research group). The students will engage in research for 8 weeks and ultimately present a final report as well as give an oral presentation to the research group.
The RIPS-Beijing program will add to the pipeline each year 10 top US students and 10 top Chinese students who will have experienced working at one of the world's most exciting industrial research centers as part of an international team, and experiencing first-hand the power of mathematics to solve important real-world problems. We expect that most of the U.S. students will find this research experience attractive and compelling, and will decide to go on to graduate school and to careers utilizing their capability to work in an Asian setting. The faculty mentors from the U.S. who participate each year will acquire skills in guiding a team and in working in an international setting. The cooperation between IPAM and MSRA in jointly running this program will lay the groundwork for further joint activities as well.
