REU Site: Valparaiso Experience in Research by Undergraduate Mathematicians

瓦尔帕莱索大学的数学和计算机科学系将主办夏季REU项目，瓦尔帕莱索本科生数学家研究经验（VERUM）。VERUM每年将招收9名本科生。这些学生将以三人一组的形式工作九周，解决组合数学、生物数学或统计学方面的开放性问题。每个小组将与不同的项目主任一起工作，他将每天为学生提供指导和反馈。在每个项目中，参与者将调查更大的数学界感兴趣的开放问题，从而产生潜在的可发表的结果。大多数参与者将主要是来自本科院校的学生，他们还没有决定在研究生院的职业道路。因此，我们将以本科生为目标，让他们首次体验数学研究。将额外关注从STEM中代表性不足的群体中招募参与者，包括第一代大学生，因为他们接触学术价值观和过程的机会也比同龄人少。通过模拟数学家的研究经验，该计划将培养学生参与并准备加入数学社区。该计划将强调学生的专业发展，同时鼓励他们从事与数学相关的职业和研究生学习，从而增加传统上代表性不足的群体在STEM学科中的参与度。学生将成为一个小型专业小组的一部分，该小组将在他们的本科及以后的职业生涯中提供支持。作为项目的一部分，一名研究生还将作为参与者的导师，学生们将参观研究生院，了解不同类型机构的研究生的生活。学生们还将通过跟踪每个研究小组的进展，并通过倾听和与每周访问该计划的访问者互动，接触到不同的数学领域。VERUM的参与者将通过每周的小组演讲、在地方和国家会议上的演讲以及撰写最终项目报告来提高他们的沟通和演讲技巧。

The Department of Mathematics & Computer Science at Valparaiso University will host the summer REU site, Valparaiso Experience in Research by Undergraduate Mathematicians (VERUM). VERUM will recruit nine undergraduate students each year. These students will work in teams of three for nine weeks on solving open problems in combinatorics, biomathematics, or statistics. Each group will work with a different project director who will provide guidance and feedback to the students on a daily basis. In each project, the participants will investigate open questions of interest to the larger mathematical community, and therefore yield potentially publishable results. Most of the participants will be students from primarily undergraduate institutions who have not yet decided on a graduate school career path. Therefore we will target undergraduates for a first research experience in mathematics. Additional attention will be given to recruiting participants from groups under-represented in STEM, including first-generation college students since they also will have had less exposure to academic values and processes than their peers.By modeling the research experience of a mathematician, the program will produce students engaged with, and prepared to join, the mathematical community. The program will emphasize the professional development of the students while encouraging them to pursue mathematics related careers and graduate studies thus increasing the participation of traditionally underrepresented groups in STEM disciplines. Students will become part of a small professional group that will provide support during their undergraduate careers and beyond. As part of the program a graduate student will also act as a mentor for the participants and the students will visit graduate schools to learn about the lives of graduate students in different types of institutions. The students will also be exposed to different areas of mathematics by following the progress of each research group and by listening to and interacting with weekly visitors to the program. VERUM participants will increase their communication and presentation skills through weekly group presentations, presentations at local and national conferences and through writing a final project report.