REU Site: The Rice University Summer Institute of Statistics (RUSIS)

该奖项为莱斯大学统计系一个成功的为期10周的夏季REU网站提供持续支持，以研究统计学及其应用。随着国内数学科学研究生的数量持续下降，迫切需要发展人力资源，以继续支持美国在世界科学和技术领域的优势。莱斯大学夏季统计研究所（RUSIS）目前已进入第10个年头，也是第四个资助周期，它成功地鼓励了学生攻读数学和统计学研究生学位。在俄罗斯国立大学就读并毕业的学生中，大约85%现在是全国各地博士项目的博士生，其中大约61%是数学领域代表性不足的群体的成员。RUSIS通过强化课程、密切监督研究项目以及访问休斯顿的各种研究机构和机构来实现这一目标。该项目将通过概率、随机过程和统计推断方面的强化核心课程，特别强调当前感兴趣的领域，培训和指导12名（7名由国家科学基金会资助，5名由国家科学基金会资助）代表性不足的少数族裔学生和在其所在机构不易获得研究经验的学生，包括社区大学生；例如，多重比较、极值理论、多元生存分析、复杂基础设施系统的风险-可靠性-可持续性、人工智能、统计学习、统计遗传学和一般生物统计学。RUSIS在与教师导师密切合作的情况下，让学生参与研究项目，并在暑期工作值得时，以制作联合出版物为目标。学生们在全国会议上展示他们的成果，并在准备和演讲方面得到指导。此外，学生们还会与由顶尖科学家组成的顾问委员会会面，并向他们展示自己的研究成果。RUSIS还教授使用Unix平台、LaTeX和用于研究目的的软件（如Mathematica、Splus和/或R以及Matlab）的短期课程。此外，该计划还组织学生和教师参观科学设施（例如，MD安德森癌症中心的生物数学和生物统计）。通过非正式会议，该项目讨论了各种主题，从申请研究生院到杰出科学家的职业经历，以及对统计学前沿话题的讨论。该项目在学生参与后的七年（预计完成研究生学业的时间）内对学生的进步进行评估和监控，参与学生和外部咨询委员会对项目进行年度评估是该项目不可或缺的重要组成部分。这项投资正开始产生具体成果。俄罗斯国立大学的第一位校友于2011年夏天获得博士学位，现在是一个博士项目的统计科学助理教授。还有几个人将在未来几年获得博士学位。

This award provides continued support for a successful 10-week summer REU site within the Statistics Department at Rice University for the study of Statistics and its applications. As the number of domestic graduate students in the Mathematical Sciences continues to decline, there is a critical need to develop human resources to continue supporting the United States' advantage in the world of science and technology. The Rice University Summer Institute of Statistics (RUSIS), now in its 10th year and fourth funding cycle, has been successful in encouraging students to pursue graduate degrees in Mathematics and Statistics. Roughly 85% of the students who have attended RUSIS and have graduated, are now doctoral students in Ph.D. programs around the country, and roughly 61% of them are members of underrepresented populations in Mathematics. RUSIS has accomplished this through intensive courses, close supervision of research projects, and visits to various research institutes and agencies in Houston. The program will train and mentor 12 (7 NSF- and 5 NSA-supported) selected underrepresented minority students and students with no easy access to a research experience at their institution, including community college students, through intensive core courses in probability, stochastic processes, and statistical inference, with special emphasis on areas of current interest; e.g. multiple comparisons, extreme value theory, multivariate survival analysis, risk-reliability-sustainability of complex infrastructure systems, artificial intelligence, statistical learning, statistical genetics, and general biostatistics. The RUSIS engages the students in research projects under close collaboration with faculty mentors, and with the objective of producing joint publications, when the summer work merits it. Students present their results at national meetings and they are mentored in the preparation and presentation of their talks. In addition, students meet with an advisory committee composed of top scientists and present their work to them. The RUSIS also teaches short courses on the use of Unix platforms, LaTeX, and software to be utilized for research purposes such as Mathematica, Splus and/or R, and Matlab. In addition, the program organizes student and faculty visits to scientific facilities (e.g., Biomathematics and Biostatistics at MD Anderson Cancer Center, NASA). Through informal meetings, the program discusses a variety of topics ranging from applying to Graduate School to career experiences by outstanding scientists, and discussion of cutting-edge topics in Statistics. The program evaluates and monitors the progress of students for seven years (expected time for them to finish graduate school) after their participation, and an annual evaluation of the program by the participating students and an external advisory committee is an integral and valuable part of the program. The investment is starting to produce concrete results. The first RUSIS alumnus received his Ph.D. during the summer of 2011 and is now an assistant professor of statistical sciences in a Ph.D. program. Several more are due to obtain their PhDs in the next few years.