RTG: Combinatorics, Computation, and Applications at Iowa State University

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The mathematical field of combinatorics and graph theory studies patterns of relationships between objects, and has applications throughout the mathematical, physical, biological, and social sciences and engineering. This makes it an ideal area in which to train interdisciplinary scientists with strong computational skills. This Research Training Group (RTG) in Combinatorics, Computation, and Applications builds on and expands the Iowa State University Mathematics Department's nationally recognized work in recruitment, retention, graduation and placement of groups underrepresented in mathematics; the RTG faculty team provides mathematical role models for women, minorities, and veterans. This program will use computation, experimentation, and applications to facilitate the transition from student to research mathematician, using teams of undergraduate students, graduate students, postdoctoral researchers and faculty to prepare junior personnel for successful careers in academia or industry. Research projects in Combinatorics in Algebra and Geometry, Extremal and Probabilistic Combinatorics, and Applied Combinatorics will foster a bidirectional flow of ideas between combinatorics and applications. A rotation model will be adapted from the bench sciences to provide broad training for both graduate and undergraduate students on a variety of different topics through the use of research teams; leadership of the teams will be provided by postdoctoral associates. The RTG will collaborate with the Graduate Research Workshop in Combinatorics (GRWC), with RTG trainees participating and the establishment of a pre-GRWC mini-course providing training in tools of computational combinatorics. Mentoring is a key component: the RTG faculty will mentor all participants and postdoctoral associates and graduate students will mentor those junior to themselves.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.