Summer Research in
Pure and Applied Mathematics (SUREPAM)
At the
University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire.
we will have two 8-week programs for Summer 2008.
Program 1: May 27 to July 22 with professors Elgindi, Penkava, and Shamsedine
Program 2: June 24 to August 19 with professors Howe and Walker
The deadline for
applications is March 7, 2008. Click on the
How to Apply
link for
application instructions and forms.
Undergraduate
student participants must be citizens or permanent
residents of the United States or its possessions.
One of our goals is to increase the participation of
women and historically disadvantaged minorities in
mathematics. We encourage such students to apply.
Applicants must have at least a B average and have completed
two mathematics courses beyond Calculus.
Overview of Program
Imagine spending a summer in a beautiful
river valley in which the days are mild, it stays light
until well after 10 p.m., and where you are a short
drive from a major metropolitan center (the Twin Cities
of Minneapolis/St. Paul). Now imagine that, in
this fantastic place, you get to spend your time engaged
in mathematical research. This is the environment in
which students will be engaged in the UWEC
SUREPAM
program.
The University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire is the Center for
Excellence for Faculty and Undergraduate Student Research Collaboration
for the Wisconsin
System of Universities, so our faculty have expertise in working on
research projects with undergraduates.
Student Activity
Students will participate in a variety of activities designed to
familiarize them with their specific research problem early, pursue the
actual research, communicate and discuss their findings in formal and
informal settings, and document their findings with a finished product.
Each student will be a member of one of the
research teams led by the faculty advisors. The teams will meet
regularly, with ample time set aside for discussion and questions.
In addition to presenting their ideas to each other within their team,
the students will present their work to the entire group at
semiweekly seminars. At each meeting, one or two teams will present
material. These meetings will have several benefits; the students must
have the material well organized and connected in their own minds in
order to effectively communicate their ideas to others, the
presentations help prepare the students for speaking at conferences, the
meetings help foster a sense of camaraderie
among the different teams, listening to presentations from other teams
may help a non-presenting team with its research and the non-presenting
students can add their insight to the problems of the presenting teams,
and finally, students often make significant progress under the pressure
of preparing their talks.
The work will progress in loosely bounded stages. During the
preliminary phase students will be sent background material to read
as soon as they are accepted into the program. We will enlist the
support of a faculty member at the home institution to help the student
during this phase. Students will then clarify
their background understanding, explore examples or search for counterexamples and formulate conjectures during a two week foundations
phase (possibly using computers). During the research
phase students will generalize their examples or counterexamples
and work on the proofs of their conjectures. During the final
phase of the project students will organize their results into a
finished product and concentrate on communicating their results by
writing a final report or paper and
preparing a conference presentation. During this phase one of our
faculty mentors will conduct a series of five one-hour workshops on
LaTeX which participants may wish to attend. Some students may require an epilogue phase
when
they make revisions in their manuscripts after they return to their home
institutions. We will again enlist the support of a faculty member at
the home institution to encourage and help motivate the student during
this phase. Of course, there will certainly be considerable overlap
between these phases.
Seminars
Students will participate in three seminars, for a total of 3 credits
(transferable to your home institution). These seminars will
acquaint students with research in applied analysis and biomathematics,
and research tools such as MatLab and LaTeX. For more information,
click on the link REU Seminars on
the left.
Guest Visitors
Guest visitors will be an important component
of the program. The visitors will give traditional ``math talks''
aimed at the students' level, and have informal mathematical discussions
with the students and mentors about their research. Such interactions
should provide fresh insights into their research problems and
preliminary results, possibly posing other related conjectures or ways
to extend the results. Several guests will talk on professional
development topics such as; attending graduate school, the mathematics
profession, other summer programs (Carlton-St.\ Olaf, Park City, etc.)
and professional opportunities in academia, business and industry. Many
distinguished mathematicians have visited our department and have
expressed an interest in returning; Dr. Joe Gallian, University of
Minnesota-Duluth; Dr. Gail Ratcliff, East Carolina University; Dr. Ruth
Gornet, University of Texas-Arlington, Dr. Stephen Benson, Argonne
National Laboratory; Dr. Steven Krantz, Washington University-St. Louis, Dr. Vic Reiner, University of Minnesota; Dr. Amelia
Taylor, St Olaf College;
Dr.
Mohamed El-Gebeily, King Fahd
University, Dr. Georgia Benkart, University of Wisconsin-Madison; Dr. David
Manderscheid, University of Iowa, Dr. Man-Wah Wong, York University,
Dr. Dongming Wei,
University of New Orleans, Dr.
M. Z. Nashed, University of
Central Florida.
Summer Workshop
For the past several years The
Department of Mathematics at
UW-Eau Claire has sponsored a week long summer workshop featuring
invited speakers along with regional mathematicians talking on a variety
of loosely related topics. We anticipate that the students will
speak at this conference. Depending on availability we also hope to
attend regional mathematics conferences that often occur at such
institutions as UW-Madison and the University of Minnesota. We also are
planning field trips to local industries that employ mathematicians such
as Cray Research and Extrusion Dies
Industries.
Recreation
Eau Claire lies in the heart of Wisconsin's resort country at the confluence of the Chippewa and Eau Claire rivers, giving the campus, city and surrounding countryside a distinctive beauty. Scenic rivers, lakes, bike trails and state, county and city parks offer countless outdoor activities that we will tailor to the interests of the students. We also plan on several social events such as pizza parties and working lunches. Eau Claire is only a short drive from the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul with many fine cultural and entertainment attractions.