Collaborative Research: AIM & ICERM Research Experiences for Undergraduate Faculty (REUF)

让更多的美国人获得科学、技术、工程和数学(STEM)的本科生和研究生学位，对于提高美国的创新能力非常重要。作为本科生参与研究可以提高STEM专业的留存率，并鼓励学生攻读研究生学位。专注于本科教育的学院和大学的教职员工对这一使命至关重要，但在许多情况下，这样的教职员工在与他们所教的学生一起做研究或继续他们自己的研究方面得到的支持很少。为了满足这一国家需求，在NSF奖项的支持下，美国数学研究所(AIM)和数学计算与实验研究所(ICERM)将在2021年、2022年、2023年和2024年夏季为本科生教师(RUEF)举办一系列四个年度研究经验研讨会。每个RUF研讨会和正在进行的活动将为来自研究支持有限的本科生机构的一群新的教师参与者提供研究经验，调查数学科学中的公开问题，并使他们能够在本国机构与本科生一起从事研究。在每个RUF研讨会上，五位有本科生研究经验的资深数学家(领导者)将在不同的领域提出问题。然后，25名本科生教员参与者和领导将分成小组，共同解决问题。研讨会结束时，将对每个项目进行小组陈述。大部分时间将用于研究，但也将有整个小组讨论，例如由(联合)首席调查人员领导的本科研究的最佳实践，他们将每天与领导人会面。有机会继续在研讨会上开始的项目上工作，一些参与者将参与研讨会上与其他教员的长期研究合作。RUEF的招聘工作将针对本科学院和大学的教师，这些学院和大学服务于很大一部分代表不足的少数族裔、残疾人或第一代大学生，以及本身代表不足或有残疾的教师。RUIF项目将为教师参与者的学生带来更多和更好的本科生研究体验，并使教师参与者更多地参与数学研究，从而扩大和多样化数学工作者。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Enabling more Americans to earn undergraduate and graduate degrees in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) is important to improving American innovation capabilities. Participating in research as undergraduates improves retention in STEM majors and encourages students to pursue graduate degrees. Faculty at colleges and universities that focus on undergraduate education are critical to this mission, yet in many cases such faculty receive little support to do research with the students they teach or to continue their own research. To address this national need, with the support of this NSF award, the American Institute of Mathematics (AIM) and the Institute for Computational and Experimental Research in Mathematics (ICERM) will conduct a series of four annual Research Experiences for Undergraduate Faculty (REUF) workshops during the summers of 2021, 2022, 2023, and 2024. Each REUF workshop and ongoing activities will provide a new group of faculty participants from undergraduate institutions that have limited research support with a research experience investigating open questions in the mathematical sciences and equip them to engage in research with undergraduate students at their home institutions. At each REUF workshop five senior mathematicians (leaders) who have experience doing research with undergraduate students will present problems in a variety of areas. Then the 25 undergraduate faculty participants and the leaders will divide into groups and work on the problems together. The workshop will conclude with group presentations of each project. Most of the time will be spent doing research, but there will also be whole group discussions about topics such as best practices in undergraduate research led by the (co)-principal investigators, who will meet daily with the leaders. There are opportunities to continue work on the projects started in the workshop, and some participants will become involved in long-term research collaborations with other faculty at the workshop. The recruitment efforts for REUF will target faculty at undergraduate colleges and universities that serve a large proportion of students who are underrepresented minorities, person with disabilities, or first generation college students, as well as faculty who are themselves underrepresented or have disabilities. The REUF project will lead to more and better undergraduate research experiences for the students of the faculty participants, and greater engagement in mathematical research by the faculty participants, thus expanding and diversifying the mathematical workforce.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.