REU Site: Research Experiences for Undergraduates in Mathematics at Lafayette College

课程摘要：拉斐特学院数学系将在2012年、2013年和2014年夏季举办为期八周的本科生暑期研究体验(REU)项目。每年大约有8名学生将从国家实验室中挑选出来，在教师导师的指导下探索三个研究课题。三名老佛爷百货的学生也将参加。研究项目将来自以下领域：组合学、微分几何、金融数学、有限几何和游戏、几何群论、数学计算、数论、数学生物学和休闲数学。研究计划将辅之以学生报告、嘉宾演讲、非正式聚会，以及可能的研讨会/会议。这些经历将使学生参与者有机会分享想法，学习更多数学知识，并成为研究社区的一部分。将鼓励学生在联合数学会议等会议上展示他们的结果，并在适当的情况下，导师和他们的小组将把他们的结果写出来发表。所有项目都将涉及在教师导师的指导下对开放研究问题的调查。这些教师导师来自一批成功的研究人员，他们在与本科生合作和出版方面拥有丰富的经验--过去的拉斐特学院的学生经常在全国会议上发表论文，并在高质量的期刊上发表文章。通过在一个令人兴奋的数学环境中工作，周围都是有才华的同龄人，REU的学生参与者将获得深入、有意义的经验，以补充他们的本科数学教育。该计划还将为考虑在数学密集型领域攻读研究生的学生提供动力。

Program abstract:The Department of Mathematics at Lafayette College will host an eight week summer Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) program during the summers of 2012, 2013, and 2014. Approximately eight students per year will be selected from a national pool to explore three research topics under the guidance of faculty mentors. Three Lafayette students will also participate. Research projects, which will vary from summer to summer, will be drawn from the following areas: combinatorics, differential geometry, financial mathematics, finite geometry and games, geometric group theory, mathematical computation, number theory, mathematical biology, and recreational mathematics. The research program will be supplemented by student presentations, guest speakers, informal gatherings, along with possible workshops/conferences. These experiences will give the student participants the opportunity to share ideas, learn more mathematics and become part of a research community. Students will be encouraged to present their results at conferences such as the Joint Mathematics Meetings and, when appropriate, mentors and their groups will write up their results for publication. All projects will involve the investigation of open research problems under the direction of a faculty mentor. The faculty mentors come from a pool of successful researchers with extensive experience in working and publishing with undergraduates--students from past Lafayette College REUs have regularly presented at national conferences and have published in high-quality journals. By working in an exciting mathematical environment surrounded by talented peers, student participants in the REU will gain an in-depth, meaningful experience to supplement their undergraduate mathematical education. The program will also provide motivation for students considering graduate studies in mathematics-intensive fields.