REU Site: Interdisciplinary Mathematics Research

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This REU is an intensive six-week program on Research in Interdisciplinary Mathematics. The program will be held at the Institute for Mathematics and its Applications (IMA) at the University of Minnesota (UMN). Each summer, 12 students (9 NSF supported, 3 supported with non-NSF funds) will work in groups of 4. Students will apply mathematical ideas to problems arising in other disciplines. Three faculty members will be associated with each team: a Problem Poser (PP), a Faculty Advisor (FA) and a Research Mentor (RM). The PP, who will set the research question, will be a UMN researcher from a field such as biostatistics, computer science, or electrical, biomedical or chemical engineering. The FA, who will guide the research effort, will be a member of the Macalester Department of Mathematics, Statistics and Computer Science. The RM, who will consult with the group for two hours per day, will be a post-doctoral fellow at the IMA with relevant domain expertise. Potential topics include dynamics of laser systems, robotics pursuit algorithms, instability of thin liquid films, modeling orthodontics, cell adhesion dynamics, and on-line recommender systems. Students will employ techniques drawn from mathematical modeling, differential equations, graph theory, discrete geometry, probability and statistics.The program is designed to allow the students to experience, first hand, the excitement of doing research that is relevant to another field. With problems coming from another discipline, the students will need to learn how to formulate domain-specific questions in mathematical ways. Students will work closely with three different faculty members with diverse research experience. In addition to performing mathematical research, students will also be immersed in the language of the other disciplines, and they will assimilate the ability to communicate across disciplines. The program will develop domain knowledge, mathematical skills and expository argumentation. By the end of the summer, each team will produce a written report, an oral presentation, and a poster. Each group will submit their poster to the Joint Mathematics Meetings, or another appropriate national conference. Additional information about the REU program can be found on the IMA website: http://www.ima.umn.edu/