Research Experiences for Undergraduates in Mathematics at Indiana University

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The Indiana Research Experience for Undergraduates program at Indiana University, begun in 1966, offers a small, select, talented group of students the opportunity to experience the intensity of working on a problem whose solution is currently unknown. Working one-on-one with an IU faculty member for eight weeks during the summer, students develop their abstract problem solving skills, intellectual stamina, creativity, perseverance, communication skills, and work ethic. Most alumni of our program go on to pursue advanced degrees, and many now hold prestigious positions in academia, business, and government. The overall experience will give these students, whose interests may be quite diverse, an appreciation of the power, evolution, and usefulness of mathematics and of working mathematicians. This group will come to understand on the one hand the amazing diversity of mathematics, and on the other hand the deep unifying themes which span disciplines and centuries. The long term impact of this program is to increase the mathematical awareness of future decision makers and leaders. Such awareness may lead to wider use of mathematical methods in decision making and in creating new technologies.