RTG: An Interdisciplinary Research Training Program in Applied Mathematics, Computational Science, and Mathematical Physics

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This project involves a coordinated training program for post-doctoral researchers, graduate students and undergraduate students that give equal emphasis to theory, computation and application---the three cornerstones of modern research in applied mathematics. A fundamental goal of the project is to provide the students and postdoctoral researchers with the intellectual and software tools that they need to engage in cutting-edge research in either a university or industry based environment. The 5-year program is designed to fund up to 6 postdoctoral researchers, 10 graduate students, and 3 undergraduate students during the academic year and summer session. These postdocs and students will be organized into team-based research groups, with each team being coordinated and mentored by two or more of the Investigators. The research topic of each assembled team will reflect the diverse range of areas in applied mathematics, computational and data science, and mathematical physics that are focus areas of the Investigators. The cross-disciplinary aspects of the training program will be enhanced substantially by the newly developed interdisciplinary Computational Science, Mathematics, and Engineering (CSME) Doctoral Program at UCSD. An RTG outreach program includes elements devoted to the training of local-area high-school teachers on the important role of computational and applied mathematics in our society. Efforts will focus on local-area high schools that provide intensive college preparatory education for low- income students. The technology produced by this award will include mathematical algorithms, analyses, and numerical software that will provide powerful tools for the exploration of multiscale models in physics, chemistry, biology, engineering and medicine. The results will potentially impact the formulation, analysis and development of methods for critical complex multiscale and multiphysics problems that have a fundamental impact on the US economy. RTG-sponsored students and postdocs will participate in the application of mathematical sciences to a range of research projects involving such diverse areas as undersea oil exploration, optimal power scheduling, drug design and organ modeling. Our outreach program to local-area high-schools will encourage students in under-represented groups to choose careers in applied mathematics and computational science. At the national level, the project will make a positive contribution towards achieving the long range goal of the RTG program of expanding the work force of well-prepared US citizens, nationals and permanent residents in the mathematical sciences. In addition, the project will make an important contribution in the direction of the NSF-wide, and more generally, national priority of nurturing the crucial role of the basic mathematical sciences in interdisciplinary research.