CSUMS: A Computational Training and Interdisciplinary Research Program for Undergraduates in the Mathematical Sciences at the University of St. Thomas

该项目的特点是在5年的项目中，每年为9至12名学生提供为期一年的综合教育和研究经验。参与者从双城联合学院（ACTC）的机构中招募，并在明尼苏达州圣保罗圣托马斯大学（UST）的教师和其他ACTC机构的教师的指导下完成他们的课程和研究。参与者受益于课程开发，以支持学习和使用计算密集型的方法在数学和统计学。学生们参加各种各样的讲习班、研讨会、会议和实地考察。在小组中，队列学生为需要在课程中获得的计算技能的研究项目做出贡献，并与其他学生和项目教师分享他们的进展。学生们定期在更大的专业团体中展示他们的研究成果。该项目的智力价值是以下成就的结果。学生熟练使用计算方法，并学会运用这些知识对需要使用这些方法解决的问题进行研究。通过与当地学者和实业家的互动，学生可以看到他们的计算研究方法如何应用于其他研究领域和现实世界的问题。项目的广泛影响体现在四个层面上。在UST，学生学习如何使用计算方法进行研究，教师在教授一门强调计算方法的新课程时获得经验。在更大的层面上，其他ACTC机构的学生和教师也实现了同样的影响。利用计算方法的当地产业受益于ACTC学校的毕业生，他们在科学计算方面具有高水平的熟练程度。最后，学生的演讲和赞助的会议向全国观众推广了创新的课程元素和小组成员的研究进展。计算能力继续以惊人的速度增长。因此，科学家可以使用计算机创建用于解决复杂数学问题的高度复杂的模型。此外，由于缺乏计算设备，几十年前开发的计算方法在实践中一度难以解决，现在可以用来建模和解决问题。为了最大限度地利用世界上不断增加的计算资源，保持与全球科学家在技术上的竞争力，美国大学数学专业的本科生必须接受他们所需的培训。为此，来自明尼苏达州圣保罗圣托马斯大学的数学和工程学院，以及来自双城联合学院其他机构的数学教师，在美国国家科学基金会的“数学科学本科生计算科学培训”项目的支持下，让本科生组成研究小组。在接下来的五年里，每年都会有9到12名数学专业的学生组成一个队列，参加一个为期一年的项目，学习数学研究中使用的计算方法，并将他们积累的知识运用到工作中，与教师导师一起研究应用于癌症治疗、图像压缩和分析、龙卷风风暴检测、薄膜行为和定向细胞运动等领域的问题。学生们参观双子城的当地工业，进一步学习如何使用科学计算来解决现实世界的问题，并在国家会议上展示他们的工作成果。毕业后，学生将拥有在工业或研究生院继续从事高水平工作所需的工具和经验，以解决需要科学计算专业知识的问题。该项目得到了MPS数学科学部、MPS多学科活动办公室和本科教育EHR部的支持。

DMS-0802959 The project features a year-long, combined educational andresearch experience for a cohort of 9 to 12 students during eachof the five project years. Participants are recruited from theinstitutions of the Associated Colleges of the Twin Cities (ACTC)and perform their coursework and research under the mentorship offaculty at the University of St. Thomas (UST) in St. Paul, MN andfaculty at other ACTC institutions. Participants benefit from acourse developed to support the learning and use ofcomputationally intensive methods in mathematics and statistics. The cohort participates in a variety of workshops, seminars,conferences, and field trips. In small groups, cohort studentscontribute to research projects requiring the computationalskills acquired in the course and share their progress withfellow students and project faculty. Students periodicallypresent their results in the larger professional community. Theintellectual merit of the project is the result of the followingachievements. Students become proficient using computationalmethods and learn to apply this knowledge to perform research onproblems whose solutions require the use of these methods. Through interaction with local academicians and industrialists,students see how their computation research methods are used inother areas of research and in real-world problems. The broaderimpact of the project is felt at four levels. At UST, studentslearn how to perform research using computational methods andfaculty gain experience teaching a new course that emphasizescomputational methods. On a larger level, these same impacts arerealized by students and faculty at other ACTC institutions. Local industries that utilize computational methods benefit fromgraduates of ACTC schools who enjoy a high level of proficiencyin scientific computation. Finally, student presentations andsponsored conferences promote to a national audience theinnovative curricular elements developed and researchadvancements made by cohort members. Computing power continues to grow at an incredible rate. Asa result, scientists can use the computer to create highlysophisticated models for use in solving complicated mathematicalproblems. In addition, computational methods developed decadesago that were once intractable in practice due to the lack ofcomputing facilities can now be employed to model and solveproblems. It is imperative that undergraduate mathematicsstudents at universities in the United States receive thetraining they need in order to make the utmost advantage of theworld's ever-increasing computing resources and remaintechnologically competitive with scientists on a global level. Towards this end, mathematics and engineering faculty from theUniversity of St. Thomas in St. Paul, MN and mathematics facultyfrom other institutions in the Associated Colleges of the TwinCities engage undergraduate students in research groups under theauspices of the National Science Foundation's ComputationalScience Training for Undergraduates in the Mathematical Sciencesprogram. For each of the next five years, a group of 9 to 12mathematics majors forms a cohort and participates in a year-longprogram to learn about computational methods used in mathematicalresearch and put the knowledge they have accrued to work as theyjoin with faculty mentors to perform research on problems withapplications to areas such as cancer treatment, image compressionand analysis, tornadic storm detection, the behavior of thinfilms, and directed cell movement. Students visit localindustries in the Twin Cities to further learn how scientificcomputing is used to solve real-world problems and presentresults of their work at national conferences. Students leavethe program armed with both the tools required and experiencenecessary to continue work at a high level either in industry orgraduate school on problems requiring an expertise in scientificcomputation. The project is supported by the MPS Division ofMathematical Sciences, the MPS Office of MultidisciplinaryActivities, and the EHR Division of Undergraduate Education.