Dr. Chmutov (top right) and the program participants (pictured above) in a zoom meeting
The department has a panoply of research programs for undergraduates. In addition to informal chances for undergraduates at Oho State to pursue research projects with faculty throughout the year, the department has two institutional, summer programs for undergraduates - both at Ohio State and beyond – to acquire research experience in mathematics.
ROMUS: A major goal of the Research Opportunities in Mathematics for Underrepresented Students (ROMUS), organized by Dr. Tony Nance, is to provide undergraduates, especially but not exclusively U.S. citizens and permanent residents from underrepresented backgrounds, the chance to get a taste of mathematics research. Accepted applicants receive a stipend to work in small cohorts under the mentorship of an experienced faculty member, and often, postdocs and graduate students, for 6-8 weeks. In each of the last three summers, ROMUS has been fully virtual and has received over 100 applications and accepted roughly 6-8 students. Of the total 13 accepted students over the last two years, 11 came from underrepresented ethnicities and 6 came from small, non-R1 schools.
This summer, selected ROMUS applicants hailed from Ohio State, UCSB, Hamilton College, Rhodes College, Middlebury College, and UCLA. Drs. Yulong Xing and Adrian Lam are jointly supervising four participants in designing and analyzing efficient numerical algorithms for mathematical models arising in scientific and engineering applications. Dr. Joseph Tien is supervising a participant on the relationship between dynamics and community structure for the kinds of networks of interest in, say, modelling the flow of information over social media and the spread of diseases throughout a population. Dr. Ghaith Hiary is supervising a participant in exploring the prime numbers and arithmetic bias. Many of the research projects involve both theoretical and computational components.
To learn more about ROMUS, see here.
Knots and Graphs: In addition, to ROMUS, Dr. Sergei Chmutov has been overseeing a research program, aimed at providing honors mathematics majors at Ohio State the opportunity to conduct research in the general subject area of Knots and Graphs, for each summer since 2005. While there is no formal application process, a small group of faculty review the list of honors students and send out invitations to participate in the program. Participants receive a stipend to work on small research problems under the mentorship of Dr. Chmutov, and sometimes a postdoc or some graduate students, for the summer. The number of participants each summer ranges from 7 to 14. This summer, seven undergraduates participated virtually over zoom, presenting their research to one another in thrice weekly meetings.
