Undergraduate Research Experience Programs

Maksym Fedorchuk

Boston College

February 10, 2016

1/15

Why do undergraduate research?

Learn something new, including higher-level mathematics notencountered in the standard undergraduate curriculum (e.g.,representation theory, algebraic geometry, algebraic topology,PDEs).

Hone old and gain new skills in applied and computationalmathematics.

Get admitted into a math graduate school.

Theorem

Undergraduate research experience has become a de factorprerequisite for admission to top graduate programs inmathematics.

Get paid to do all of the above.

2/15

Financial side

REU programs ordinarily cover room and board, travel, and pay anadditional stipend in the amount of $3-4K per summer.

Unfortunately, this financial assistance is often available only to theUS citizens or permanent residents. There are however a fewprograms that give financial support to (a usually limited numberof) international students. Examples of these include:

1 SUMMER@ICERM.

2 SMALL at Williams College.

3 Duluth REU — cost of living support only.

Important: The Undergraduate Research Fellowship (URF)program at Boston College is open to all BC students! More aboutthe URF program below.

3/15

Applications

A comprehensive list of REU programs can be found at:

The National Science Foundation REU list

MathPrograms.org

Admission to REU programs is competitive, hence apply to allprograms that sound interesting to you.Most of the applications are online. At MathPrograms.org you canapply to many programs at once using essentially the same set ofmaterials. A standard application consists of:

1 A transcript.

2 A curriculum vitae (CV).

3 A statement of purpose/interest, and/or a cover letter.

4 Recommendation letters.

4/15

Application Materials

Unofficial transcripts, e.g., a pdf printout from the Agora,often suffice. Rarely, an official transcript is required.

A CV, i.e., a resume, must include your most advanced mathcoursework, your GPA, and possibly your class rank. List yourawards (such as a Dean’s Scholar nomination, a Pi MuEpsilon membership, etc), research experience (such as URFsat BC), if any. Make sure to include a list of yourprogramming skills, especially those relevant to mathematicalcomputations, such as your proficiency with Python, SAGE,Macaulay2, MAPLE, etc. Note that LATEX counts as a skill.

5/15

Statement of Purpose

A statement of purpose should describe your mathematicalbackground and interests (e.g., a preference for algebra andcombinatorics, etc), your mathematical successes (challengingcourses aced, graduate courses taken, graduate textbooksread, etc), and mention your long-term career plans (e.g.,graduate school in pure or applied math).

The statement should be to the point — do not write thehistory of your life, or how you are planning to cure diseaseswith advanced mathematical models. Also, at this stagenobody expects you to prove a big (or even a small) theoremover the next summer. So do not promise to do so.

Do make sure that your statement reads nicely, addresses thekey points mentioned above, and looks professional.

Therefore, proofred, proofraed, and profread again!!!

6/15

Recommendation Letters

Recommendation letters from your professors is quite likely themost important part of your application. This is also the part overwhich you have little control. Do make the life of your letterwriters easier by doing the following:

Ask well in advance (at least two weeks before the firstdeadline, a month in advance is preferable).

Give your letter writers a complete list of the programs youare applying (easily done at MathPrograms.org).

Supply your letter writers with your application materialsdescribed above (preferable, but may not be strictlynecessary).

Ask professors whose comments will be helpful to theprograms. This means your instructors from higher-level mathcourses.

7/15

Deadlines

Deadlines are around the corner:

Some have already passed (University of Michigan REUProgram on February 5), but you should still apply.

Some are coming up in a few days (Miami and Duluth REUson February 10, SMALL at Williams on February 11).

Most are between February 14 and March 1.

Now is the time to act.

8/15

Past experiences of BC students

Katherine Pilewski (BS’2015)2014 Summer Undergraduate Applied MathematicsInstitute at Carnegie Mellon

“The Summer Undergraduate Applied Mathematics Institute (SUAMI) isan eight-week summer program for undergraduate students which targetsminority and female students. The goals of the SUAMI are twofold: toexpose students to the nature, culture, and rigors of advanced work andresearch in the area of applied mathematics; to help students understandwhat graduate school really is in order to help them make a moreinformed decision on whether they should attend graduate school. Datesof the program: May 31 through July 26, 2016.”

Application deadline: Apply at MathPrograms.org by March 1, 2016

9/15

Past experiences of BC students

Christian Cofoid (BS’2017)Brown University Summer 2015 REU

Consider applying to the Brown Summer 2016 REUprogram: “We invite applications for an 8-week REU program in

the Division of Applied Mathematics at Brown University in summer

2016. The REU is part of an NSF-sponsored Research Training

Group (RTG) on “Integrating Dynamics and Stochastics” (IDYaS)

and will be held in conjunction with the Summer@ICERM program.

Participants in the REU program will work on group projects that

involve applications, dynamical systems, and probability theory. The

faculty mentor is Bjorn Sandstede. The duration of the program is

20 June - 12 August 2016.”

Application deadline: February 15, 2016The program is restricted to US citizens or permanent residents.

10/15

Past experiences of BC students

Champ Davis (BA’2017)Geometry and Topology RTG Summer 2015 ResearchProgram for Undergraduates at UC Berkeley

There is no UC Berkeley RTG program this year. However,you should look into the 2016 Mathematical SciencesResearch Institute Undergraduate Program (MSRI-UP):“The research topic of the 2016 MSRI-UP program is Sandpile

Groups, a topic at the intersection of group theory, combinatorics,

linear algebra and algebraic geometry. Students who have had a

linear algebra course and a course in which they have had to write

proofs are eligible to apply.”

Application deadline: February 15, 2016 (priority) or March1, 2016 (second round).Only U.S. citizens and permanent residents are eligible to apply and theprogram cannot accept foreign students regardless of funding.

11/15

URF at BC

The math department at BC offers a number of opportunities toengage in a meaningful undergraduate research. The moststructured way to do so is to participate in the URF program underthe direction of our faculty (and be paid by BC to do so).

1 URF grants are awarded for fall and spring semesters, and forthe summer (10 week program).

2 Faculty applies for a grant — contact a professor you mightbe interested to do research with to express your interest, andto discuss the possibility of doing URF under their guidance.

3 If you impressed your professor in a higher-level math course(such as MATH 311-312, 321-322), they might jump at theopportunity to work with you. In any case, ask around.

4 The URF grants are competitive. The deadline for Summer2016 URF grant applications is March 11, 2016.

12/15

Past REU projects at the math department

The following students were supported in the recent years by theBC URF program or by individual faculty grants:

13/15

Past REU projects at the math department

Troy Heffernan (2011, URF, Prof. Mirollo)

Lisa Piccirillo (2011, URF, Prof. Grigsby)

Carolina Cyburt (2012, URF, Prof. Baglivo)

Stephanie Ger (2012, URF, Prof. Mirollo)

Ga Yee Park (2013, URF, Prof. Grigsby)

Flip Piasevoli (2013, grant, Prof. Grigsby)

Zachary Skarka (2013, grant, Prof. Grigsby)

Cynthia Chen (2014, URF, Prof. Baldwin)

Champ Davis (2014, URF, Prof. Baldwin)

Andrew Ferdowsian (2014, URF, Prof. Baldwin)

Arnav Roy (2014, URF, Prof. Treumann)

Sarah Collins (2015, grant, Prof. Grigsby)

Christopher Coscia (2015, grant, Prof. Grigsby)

Andrew Ferdowsian (2015, URF, Prof. Fedorchuk)

Christopher Ratigan (2015, URF, Prof. Fedorchuk)

Jian Zhou (2015, URF, Prof. Fedorchuk)

14/15

Thank you!

Prof. Howard reacts to a research presentation by Champ Davis on

September 16, 2015 c©M.F.15/15