Research Experience for Undergraduates

Modern Topics in Pure and Applied Mathematics

An intensive 8-week summer program for undergraduate students will be run at the University of Maryland, College Park, MD, for three years: 2022, 2023, and 2024. Research topics in six different fields of contemporary pure and applied mathematics will be offered. Each year, two research topics will be advertised and a total of 12 undergraduates will be recruited nationwide. The projects will come from hot research areas where a lot of exploration is yet to be done. This will enable the undergraduates to exploit their creativity and advance knowledge in the corresponding fields. The REU program will start with two weeks of teaching the undergraduates the necessary background. Then each team of six undergrads will be split into a few subgroups to work on specific projects within each topic. Each team will include a UMD graduate assistant who will help the faculty team leader mentor the undergrads. Besides technical training and research activities, the REU program will involve three weekly seminars: the Update Seminar where the undergrads will give oral presentations on their projects, the Exposure Seminar where professors from the UMD and nearby universities will give expository talks on their research, and the Lunchtime Workshop where topics such as how to apply for graduate schools and research fellowships, how to write a paper and give a talk will be discussed. The REU program will be concluded with the Symposium where each undergraduate participant will give a talk. Additionally, each undergrad will need to write a report that will be converted into a paper in a peer-reviewed journal. Selected participants will be given an opportunity to present their work in conferences such as the Joint Mathematics Meeting.

Goals

• To nurture research abilities, promote independent thinking, and enhance technical skills as well as the written and oral presentation skills of the undergraduate participants.
• Provide training to undergraduates from schools with limited research opportunities in STEM fields.
• To train local graduate students to run REU programs and serve as research mentors.

Summer 2024 REU

Topic 1. Interaction between convex geometry and complex geometry.

Prof. Tamas Darvas (UMD, MATH)

Topic 2. Harmonic analysis meets machine learning.

Prof. Wojciech Czaja (UMD, MATH)

Dates of the Summer program
June 3, 2024 -- July 26, 2024

Eligibility
This program is funded by the National Science Foundation and is open only to US citizens or permanent residents who are current students (current seniors are not eligible) majoring in mathematics at any US college or university.

How to apply

Application packets should be uploaded to mathprograms.org. See listing https://www.mathprograms.org/db/programs/1561. Application deadline: February 20, 2024. The application packet should contain the following documents:

• Personal statement indicating the student’s interests and career goals
• Resume
• Academic transcript
• Two letters of recommendation

Stipend for undergraduate participants:

$5,000 for the eight weeks. Students (except from the Washington, DC- Baltimore area) will be housed in University dorms, and will receive some allowance to cover the cost of their trip to and from College Park.

Contact

Wojciech Czaja,  

What is the REU like?

The website for the REU 2023.

The website for the REU 2022.