Collaborative Research: Internship Network in the Mathematical Sciences

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This project addresses a key challenge in graduate education in the mathematical sciences. While employment opportunities in academia are decreasing or constant in number, the annual number of PhDs awarded in the mathematical sciences has increased significantly in the past two decades. Most mathematical sciences PhD recipients now pursue careers in business, industry, or government (BIG) jobs. Opportunities for students to learn about potential BIG careers during graduate study rather than afterward would facilitate much more efficient deployment of the nation’s scientific and intellectual capital. The need is great to provide training and career experiences to graduate students that intentionally prepare them for mathematically meaningful career paths in business, industry, and government. This project aims squarely at this unmet need, while simultaneously aiming to strengthen the competitiveness of participating BIG organizations by providing them access to highly knowledgeable people able to apply advanced techniques from the mathematical sciences. To accomplish these goals, hub-and-spoke internship networks will be created in two geographic regions. The spokes connect the hub universities to nodes, which are nearby institutions having sizable mathematical sciences graduate programs. The hubs will organize systematic training programs on technical and professional skills, to prepare students for productive internships in BIG. Students will be carefully matched with internship projects created through the efforts of specialist Project Developers based at the hubs. The impact of the project will be substantial for the participating BIG organizations. Interns will create new R&D tools that lead to greater efficiency, productivity, and profitability. Conversely, questions arising from industry can initiate new academic research directions in mathematics and statistics. Educational and life impacts will be felt as internship experiences empower graduates to pursue wider ranges of employment opportunities. Engagement of students from under-represented groups will increase diversity in BIG and open doors for the students toward high-ranking positions, where they can serve as role models. Further, BIG employers will come to appreciate the talents offered by graduate programs in the mathematical sciences. The network structure enables sharing of resources and best practices and lays the groundwork for scaling up in future. Anticipated lasting impacts include (i) the establishment of enduring industry-university collaborations with ongoing internship placements and (ii) the creation of a new departmental culture in the mathematical sciences in which graduate career paths to industry and government are visible, valued, and viable.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.