Research Experience for Undergraduates in Mathematics

Discussed below are several funding opportunities, both here at UGA and elsewhere, for undergraduate students to participate in research projects. Participation in a research project also provides opportunities for the student to give presentations of his/her project at Symposia and Professional Meetings.

The National Science Foundation funds what are called Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU). These are competitive programs for mathematics majors, where an undergraduate student gets funded to do research projects in a nice learning environment.

1) Summer REUs.

The web sites listed below try to keep most NSF funding opportunities for undergraduates up to date.

NSF Research Experience for Undergraduates, UGA, Summer 2008

List of all active REUs, AMS site

List of all active REUs, NSF site

We expect you to discuss these opportunities with your advisor, and, if relevant, we strongly encourage you to apply to several external REUs for summer 2008 (the deadlines are usually in February). UGA will hold REUs next summer, but we expect that most participants will come from other institutions. If we do not fill all spots with participants from other institutions, we will look most favorably at
UGA applicants that have applied to REUs at other institutions.

2) At UGA, you can participate for academic credit in research projects during the academic year through a VIGRE seminar.

Seminars specifically aimed at introducing research to undergraduates are called Introductory VRG (Vigre Research Group). All VRGs are open to all undergraduate and graduate students, postdocs, and regular faculty.

Funding is available for between 5 and 10 students per semester to receive an REU/VIGRE Fellowship of up to $125/week for participating in an IVRG. The fellowship is in the form of a campus job working on group projects at the hourly rate of $12.50 per hour for a maximum of 10 hours per week. Since this funding is subject to National Science Foundation and UGA rules, students must be U.S. Citizens or Permanent Residents and must be eligible for campus employment.

To apply for funding, students should be accepted into an IVRG by the group leader, and recommended by the group leader for funding. Students and leaders should then send brief emails to Dr. Cantarella in support of funding (jason at math dot uga dot edu,). Academic merit and financial need will be considered when deciding on funding support. There is no limit on the number of students in any given group who may receive funding-- group leaders should feel free to nominate several candidates if desired.

Please ask your advisor about these research activities when preparing your schedule of classes. An IVRG is usually taken for 1 unit of credit, S/U.

3) The CURO Program at UGA.

Several recent mathematics majors have presented their research projects at the CURO Symposium (see below). This is a great opportunity for UGA undergraduates, and we hope that some of you will consider presenting at the 2008 CURO Symposium.

Probably the best way to start an undergraduate research project is to join a VIGRE group in the Fall.

The CURO Apprentice program is also another way to get funded during the academic year. CURO-AP participation is similar to taking a 3 credit hour class or having a part-time job. URAP students work an average of 10-12 hours per week for the entire academic year. In addition, participants register for a 1-hour research seminar for academic credit that meets weekly. CURO-AP participants receive a stipend of $1000 per semester.

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2004 CURO Symposium
John W. Foreman, New Shapes in Knot Theory: nth Hulls of Knotted Curves, mentored by Prof. Cantarella.

2005 CURO Symposium
Josef Broder received the 2006 Holbrook Academic Support Award, for his paper entitled Multivariate Harmonic Analysis, mentored by Prof. Sornborger.

2006 CURO Symposium
Rachel Whitaker, A tangled topic, the connected sum of mathematical knots, mentored by Prof. Cantarella.

2007 CURO Symposium
Sophomore Grant Fiddyment, Mathematical Computing: Exploring the Relationship Between the Critical Group and the Structure of Graphs, mentored by Prof. Lorenzini

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