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专业的保留率，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师对这一使命至关重要，但在许多情况下，这些教师很少得到支持，无法与他们所教的学生一起进行研究，也无法继续自己的研究。 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年夏季举办一系列四届本科教师年度研究经验（REUF）研讨会。 每个REUF研讨会和正在进行的活动将提供一组新的教师参与者从本科院校，有有限的研究支持与研究经验，调查数学科学中的开放问题，并使他们能够与本科生在他们的家机构从事研究。在每个REUF研讨会上，五位有本科生研究经验的高级数学家（领导者）将在各个领域提出问题。 然后，25名本科教师参与者和领导将分成小组，共同解决问题。 研讨会将以每个项目的小组介绍结束。大部分时间将花在做研究，但也将有整个小组讨论的主题，如在本科研究的最佳实践由（共同）-主要研究者，谁将每天与领导人会面。有机会继续在研讨会上开始的项目的工作，一些参与者将成为参与长期的研究合作与其他教师在研讨会上。 REUF的招聘工作将针对本科学院和大学的教师，这些学院和大学为代表性不足的少数民族，残疾人或第一代大学生的大部分学生提供服务，以及本身代表性不足或有残疾的教师。REUF项目将为参与者的学生带来更多更好的本科生研究经验，并使参与者更多地参与数学研究，从而扩大和多样化数学劳动力。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力价值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.