Ohio State Graduate Program

I received the following email today --- you can't beat a $5 application fee (well, you can, if they just waive it...  but $5 ain't bad).  And it's pretty unusual to get full funding as a Master's student.

The Ohio State Graduate Program in Mathematics is inviting applications to both its MMS and PhD degree programs. We are expecting to recruit a total of about 30 students for Autumn 2011. Below a few highlights that your graduating undergraduate majors and Masters students may be interested in.

University of Rochester Newsletter

The University of Rochester Computer Science department publishes a newsletter called "Multicast" (this is a computer science term).  Sometimes these newsletters are interesting to read to see what kinds of things are going on in other academic institutions.

Notre Dame ESTEEM program

Last year Notre Dame introduced this interesting new program for science and math students.  It seems that it is doing OK, because they just sent me an email advertising it again.  It's quite a fascinating idea: take the "technical" students and put them through a program that is intended to get them to become entrepreneurs.  If that sounds like fun, I'd encourage you to look into it some more.

SMU Graduate Program in Computational and Applied Mathematics

We have had several students accepted into SMU's Ph.D. program.  They seem to really like our math majors!  If you're interested in applied mathematics, this is a great program.  You can get more information at their department's website: http://www.smu.edu/math.

Ford Foundation Fellowship Programs

From the flyer they sent me: "Ford Foundation Fellowships are designed to increase the diversity of the nation's college and university faculties."  They give out fellowships for graduate studies that would lead to a teaching and research career at the college or university level.  You can find more information at http://national-academies.org/fellowships.

Student Membership in Professional Societies

Professional societies exist to help push a particular field or discipline forward, through advocacy, communication & publications, and putting on professional meetings.  For students, they are often a good way to see what's "going on" in a particular profession --- what are the members in the field thinking about, working on, etc.  This is especially true because they are usually have student membership rates that are quite reasonable.

I recently received notices about these student memberships from two societies: the Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics (SIAM) and the IEEE/IEEE Computer Society.  You can read about their student membership opportunities at http://www.siam.org and http://www.computer.org. Just look for a link to "membership" or "join now" to see what the student memberships cost and what kind of benefits you'd receive.

Don't forget about the American Mathematical Society (AMS), the Mathematical Association of America (MAA), American Statistical Association (ASA), and the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM), all of which have student membership rates.

NSF Research Abroad for Graduate Students

The National Science Foundation has a fairly new "East Asia & Pacific Summer Institutes" (EAPSI) program, which pays expenses plus a stipend for science, engineering, and mathematics graduate students to spend a summer doing research in (where else?) East Asia and the Pacific (Australia, China, Japan, Korea, New Zealand, Singapore, and Taiwan).

You can get more information about the program at www.nsf.gov/eapsi or www.nsfsi.org.

NSF Graduate Research Fellowships

The National Science Foundation awards over 2,000 fellowships a year to outstanding graduate students in science, technology, engineering and mathematics.  These are excellent fellowships, and include 3 years of financial support: both a $30,000 annual stipend and a $10,500 annual cost-of-education allowance (for tuition, etc.).

These are awarded to students "at or near the beginning of graduate studies" in several science disciplines (including psychology and social sciences!). Application deadlines for 2010-2011 awards are in November.

More information can be found at the NSF's websites:
   www.nsf.gov/grfp  (for official information)

   www.nsfgrfp.org (for application assistance)

   www.fastlane.nsf.gov/grfp (to actually apply)

NYU Study Abroad Program for Math Majors

New York University sent a flyer highlighting their "Mathematics in London" program, which offers upper-level courses in mathematics (along with liberal arts and science courses).  You can get more information by going to http://www.nyu.edu/studyabroad.

DOE CSGF

This stands for "Department of Energy Computational Science Graduate Fellowship", a program administered by the Krell Institute for the Department of Energy.

Computational Science sits at the intersection of science, engineering, mathematics, and computer science.  The best way to describe it is through examples: look through the CSGF magazines --- Deixis and Compose --- for descriptions of research written for a non-technical audience. In general terms, the people working in this field are using high-performance computers --- think a 100,000 or more CPUs! --- to simulate real systems taken from many disciplines (biology, earth science, material science, physics, chemistry, etc.).  Researchers must understand the computer, the model (and so the real system), the solution algorithms, and the interactions between these three.

The CSGF is one of the most prestigious (and generous!) Federal programs for Ph.D. students in the sciences. Recipients of the Fellowship get the following benefits:

• $36,000 yearly stipend (money to live on!);
• Payment of all tuition and fees;
• Yearly conferences (they pay the travel and expenses);
• $5000 academic allowance the first year ($1000 each year after)
• 12-week research practicum at a DOE laboratory (again, travel and lodging are paid).

This is renewable for up to 4 years, depending on your progress toward the Ph.D.  Information about the benefits, requirements, and application process can be found at the Krell Institute website: http://www.krellinst.org/csfg.

Because of its generous benefits, the competition for a CSGF is tough, but not as tough as one might think: for one thing, it is open only to US citizens and permanent residents, and there is currently a dearth of US citizens applying to study highly technical fields at the Ph.D. level. Furthermore, because most recipients apply during their first or second year of graduate school ("exceptional seniors" may also apply), it requires a bit of pre-planning which many students don't undertake (I worked in computational science in graduate school, but only heard of the program after I was in my third year, and so was ineligible!).

I would advise anyone who may be interested in the program to see me (Dr. Andrews) about this in their Junior or Senior years.

Conference time in Houston

I have a good friend who is a math professor at the University of Houston Downtown (UHD).  He wrote me about some activities going on down there that might interest undergraduate students:

• The UHD Scholars Academy Graduate School and Internship Fair, which takes place from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Friday, October 15th.  This is a place to meet graduate school reps (and internship companies) from all over.  See the following for more details: http://www.uhd.edu/academic/colleges/sciences/scholars/gsif.html.
• The First UBM South Regional Conference, happens the afternoon of October 15th.  UBM is the National Science Foundation code for their program "Interdisciplinary Training for Undergraduates in Biological and Mathematical Sciences".  There is no conference registration fee, and it's only that afternoon.  See the conference website http://cms.uhd.edu/faculty/Tecarroe/ubmSouth2010.htm. This is definitely aimed at Undergraduates, who may also present at 20 minute talk.
• Finally there is a conference on the research done at the W. M. Keck Center for Interdisciplinary Bioscience Training on October 15th and 16th. They do a lot of math at this place, so you should check out the web site for this conference: http://cohesion.rice.edu/centersandinst/gcc/keck_about.cfm
  

Summer Program for Graduate-School Bound Seniors

The University of Nebraska-Lincoln has a summer program for those graduating seniors that are heading off to graduate school called "Intensive Mathematics: a Mentoring, Education, and Research Summer Experience" (IMMERSE --- they worked hard on that one, didn't they?!). This will run from June 13th to July 22nd, 2011 in Lincoln, with two intensive courses (in algebra and analysis, of course!). You must apply, but if you are accepted, you will get room, board, a travel allowance and a $3400 stipend (not bad!). Applications are due March 15th. One last detail: it's NSF sponsored, so you must be a US citizen or permanent resident.

Information can be found at http://www.math.unl.edu/immerse and in the letter and flier they sent me.

Conference for Women in Mathematics

The University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL) is sponsoring their 13th annual "Nebraska Conference for Undergraduate Women in Mathematics" (NCUWM), which will take place January 28-30, 2011 in Lincoln. UNL will be able to cover all lodging and most meals, and can help with travel expenses (the UD math department might be able to help, too, so let us know if you're interested in participating).

The web-site for the conference is http://www.math.unl.edu/ncuwm/. I've also attached the letter and flier that UNL sent.

Chapman U Economics Masters

Another day, another very interesting (and unusual) masters program: Chapman University in Orange, California is offering a "Masters of Science in Economic System Design (MSESD)". This combines "economics, human behavior, and computational technology." One very interesting thing is that the program was started by a Nobel laureate who is still on Chapman's faculty (maybe someday U.D. will have a Nobelist?!).

For more information you can go to the program's website or look at the brochure (Penny has a hard copy, but it's also online).

Oh, and did I mention that financial aid is available? This is unusual for most Masters programs, but the ones that are unique --- like this one and the one at Notre Dame I posted yesterday --- often do have some kind of support (probably because they're viewed as a little more "risky", either because they are new or because they don't fit in the usual categories).

Notre Dame Masters Program

Here's a very interesting (new) Master's program at Notre Dame: It's called the "Engineering, Science, and Technology Entrepreneurship Excllence Master's" (ESTEEM, get it?) Program. The little blurb I got is given below: it sounds very interesting, and is only 1 year long (financial aid is available!). Go to the website for more details and to apply: esteem.nd.edu.

This year, we have launched an exciting, new master’s degree program at Notre Dame for science, computer science, math, and engineering graduates. This program is designed for students who do not intend to pursue a Ph.D. in their field. It offers them a way to apply their undergraduate science or engineering background to the high technology business sector instead. Currently, this program is half-way through its first year, and the results have exceeded expectations.

ESTEEM (Engineering, Science, and Technology Entrepreneurship Excellence Master) is an innovative one-year accelerated master’s degree program developed jointly by the College of Science, the College of Engineering, and the Mendoza College of Business to address the many challenges engineering and science graduates encounter in today’s high technology business world. Focused on innovation, entrepreneurship, and product development, the program is designed to help students translate their quantitative skills to the high technology arena. Graduates of the ESTEEM program will receive a Master of Science degree in engineering, science, and technology entrepreneurship.

Teacher for 7th Grade Pre-Algebra

I received the following from a teacher-placement service today. I guess there's still a great job market out there for math teachers!

Math Teacher (Vacancy Announcement)

A private, college-preparatory school in Texas is seeking a math teacher to commence work in August 2010.

This is a full-time teaching position for middle-school math, primarily 7th-grade Pre-Algebra.

The successful candidate will be expected to participate in the full life of the school by coaching athletic teams or supervising extracurricular activities.

Location: Dallas, Texas
Work Begins: August 2010
Compensation: Highly competitive with local public schools
Requirements: Bachelor's degree in mathematics or math education. Excellent communication and leadership skills. Strong academic record. Teacher certification not required.

To apply, visit our website and complete the online application: www.SouthernTeachers.com

Scholarships to Grace Hopper Conference

The Anita Borg Institute for Women and Technology has announced that scholarship applications are being accepted for the 2010 Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing Conference, which will happen September 28 - October 2, 2010, in Atlanta, Georgia. The scholarships cover conference registration, lodging for 4 nights, and travel expenses.

Arizona Teaching Jobs

I received an email from the "Chief of Professional Operations" for the Great Hearts Academies, a group of charter schools in Arizona that focus on a Classical Liberal Arts Curriculum. She is particularly looking for UD students, and even more particularly for Science and Math teachers. She wants to interview Juniors and Seniors this Monday, March 22. But, I'm sure she'd be happy to talk to you via the telephone (they need math teachers, remember?).

I've attached her letter so you can read what she wrote.

Marshal U Computational Science REU

Marshall University (in West Virginia) is hosting an REU in "Computational Science" for Math and Physical Science majors this summer: they have several different projects, two of them in math (one is a statistical and the other is a computer vision project). The deadline for applications is April 9. Marshall is in Huntington, WV, on the banks of the Ohio River, amid forested hills. I've never been there, but WV as a whole is a beautiful place, and would be a nice place to spend the summer.

More details can be found at http://www.marshall.edu/reu/.

Bard College REU

Bard College (in the quaintly named Annandale-on-Hudson, New York) sent me an email about an REU program this summer in "Mathematics and Computation", with topics including Discrete Geometry, Coding Theory, Computational Neuroscience, and Mathematical Ecology. The really nice thing is that the deadline for applications is April 1st. They are looking for sophomores and juniors.

For lots more information visit their REU website.

To apply go to this page.

U. Tulsa: Masters in Finance

We've never sent anyone (that I know of) to a program in Finance. However, the area can be very interesting (lots of applied math). Tulsa is close by, and they sent me a letter announcing their program, but you'll have to read about it online.

U. of Rochester: Graduate Program in CS

The University of Rochester (Upstate New York) has a graduate program in CS: they sent me a nice letter that emphasizes the small size, their excellent alumni, and their connections with Brain & Cognitive Science, Linguistics, and Electrical and Computer Engineering.

You can find more information at their website.

Oh, I just noticed --- the deadline was January 15, 2010. Maybe next year?

UTSA: PhD in Applied Statistics

UT San Antonio's College of Business just recently started a doctoral program in Applied Statistics (they have a very nice brochure). Getting into a relative new program can sometimes be a lot of fun --- it's small, and the faculty are (probably) very enthusiastic.

I must say that I'm not sure how far one should go along the "applied axis", but you could check out their website for more information.

(One nice thing is that they say they are working jointly with the UT Health Science Center at San Antonio --- business and medicine!)

North Texas Area Student Conference

Midwestern State University (just an hour North of Dallas, in Wichita Falls, TX) has an annual student conference focusing on computer-related studies. This year the keynote speaker is Mr. Forrest Mims III (I've been a fan of his since my childhood!). The conference is FREE and includes LUNCH.

More detail can be found at the conference website.

UPDATE (3/11/2010): The registration and paper deadline has been moved back to March 25th.

Smith College: Center for Women in Mathematics

Smith College has two programs: one for undergraduate women in their Junior year and another for Post-baccalaureate women.

See the Center for Women in Mathematics for more details.