The Mathematics Department expects to support up to 10 undergraduate mathematics majors for a research program each summer. This program will require the students to be on campus for a total of 8 weeks during the summer period, where that total period of time could be split into two or three shorter periods, if approved. The participating students will receive grants of $4,000 apiece for the summer period, to help cover their living expenses during the program.The goal of this program is to provide mathematics majors with the opportunity for reading and study in some areas of mathematics that are not part of the regular program of courses offered by the Mathematics Department. Students will work under the direction of a faculty member in the Mathematics Department. Ideally, this would be an opportunity for a participating student not just to learn a body of mathematics but also to engage in some independent investigation. A student interested in applying to participate in this program must find a faculty member in the Mathematics Department who agrees to be the student’s adviser for the period of the program. Before the beginning of the summer program, the adviser, in consultation with the participating student, will outline a program of reading and study in a topic of mutual interest. The faculty adviser will meet with the student regularly during the summer. The organization and conduct of each individual student’s program will be up to the individual faculty members involved and could vary considerably with the topic and the goal set for the student. Participating students will be required to submit a short paper summarizing their summer research activities at the end of the program to the chair of the Mathematics Department (in care of Scott Kenney) by September 15, 2012. (This may be a paper to be submitted for publication; alternatively, it could also be a detailed summary of the student’s accomplishments during the course of the program.)
Students interested in applying to participate in this program should submit an outline of the proposed activities for the following summer to the Math Department Chair’s Office (i.e., Scott Kenney, Department Manager: Fine 302) by April 16th. Student proposals should explicitly indicate the general topics to be pursued and the periods of time that the student expects to be in Princeton over the summer, accompanied by a note of approval and support from the faculty member who has agreed to be the student’s adviser. This program is only available to mathematics majors (i.e., students must be either a junior or a senior in the fall following the summer program). In exceptional circumstances, majors from other departments may be accepted to the program if they have an adviser from the Mathematics Department and a research program that is essentially on a mathematical subject. Preference will be given to those students who have not already had one summer of participation in this program.
Those students whose applications are accepted will be notified by April 30th. Students will be responsible for making their own on‐campus housing and living arrangements for the period of the summer program.
Faculty advisers should be willing to meet regularly with their advisees during the course of the program previously agreed upon and should submit to the department chair at the end of the program a brief report of the student’s performance.
