The University of Colorado's applied mathematics department has been awarded $2.3 million from the National Science Foundation for a research and training grant designed to bring faculty and students together at all levels.
The highly competitive grants, known as the Vertical Integration of Research and Education, or VIGRE, were awarded to only five other universities: Harvard, Princeton, Columbia, Pennsylvania State and the University of Washington.
Spearheaded by ¶¶ÒõÂÃÐÐÉä-Boulder Professor James Meiss, the grant encompasses interactive work among faculty, postdoctoral researchers, graduate students and undergraduate students. While it is traditional for mathematics faculty to work individually with postdoctoral fellows and graduate students, research groups involving undergraduates are unusual in such academic training, said Meiss.
"Many of today's research problems, such as those involving complex mathematical and computational models of physical systems, require an interdisciplinary effort among a number of individuals," said Meiss. "A successful research project often requires collaboration with scientists in the modeling process, as well as computational mathematicians and mathematical analysts for the interpretation of the results."
Now that such groups at ¶¶ÒõÂÃÐÐÉä-Boulder include undergraduates, "it should facilitate the development of computational, communication and analytical skills needed to prepare our undergraduates for the fact that continuous change is the central feature of contemporary life," said Meiss.
The Department of Applied Mathematics consists of 15 faculty in the College of Arts and Sciences and 35 affiliated faculty from 17 other departments and colleges on campus. The department offers bachelor's degrees through the engineering college, and master's and doctoral degrees, and has about 50 undergraduate majors and 50 graduate students.
Co-investigators on the NSF research grant include mathematics Professors Mark Ablowitz, James Curry and Bengt Fornberg.
Each interactive research group will develop "case study modules" for the department's undergraduate courses involving many students," said Meiss. The goal is to train students in collaborative problem-solving skills and to introduce them to the research process.
Meiss said the NSF-funded program fits naturally into the university's mission to provide a Total Learning Environment for its students by having postdoctoral researchers and graduate students participate in the education of undergraduates, as well as being trained in research.