Run a Project

For faculty and graduate students who would like to run a project as part of the Experimental Mathematics Lab, please contact us with a project description.  We would be very happy to provide administrative and technology assistance.  We encourage projects to have an outreach component (see below for ideas). 

Timeline

Projects can be run anytime during the year or summer.  The UROP funding deadline is in February for the following summer or year, so if you want UROP funding, it is best to have a proposal in place before this deadline.

Project design

We support all types of mathematical research and exploration.  We aim especially to support projects that involve

• experimental mathematics (generating and exploring data and conjecture)
• exploration with technology (computers, 3d printers and laser cutters, etc.)
• pedagogical experimentation or outreach to the community

A great project combines learning, exploration, and outreach.  Examples include: creating software explorers for parameter spaces of all kinds, create simulators for mathematical processes, compute databases of mathematical objects, create virtual reality math experiences, creating visualizations for Wikipedia, coding and testing run-times for mathematical algorithms, creating 3d printed models for teaching, writing mathematical games.

Resources for designing your project:

• see our past projects for descriptions of projects and outcomes
• view past projects of other math labs:
  • Mathematical Computing Laboratory at UIC
  • Washington Experimental Mathematics Lab at UW
  • Experimental Algebra and Geometry Lab at Texas Rio Grande Valley
  • Experimental Geometry Lab at Maryland
  • Illinois Geometry Lab at Urbana-Champaign
  • Laboratory of Geometry at Michigan
  • Mason Experimental Geometry Lab at George Mason
• ideas for outreach:
  • Present physical models, images or interactive experiences in physical spaces (Gemmil Library, local libraries, etc.)
  • Design and run an experience for K-12 through CU Science Discovery or local schools
  • Create a video or interactive software
  • Create mathematical pedagogical tools for use in math circles, classrooms, etc.

Funding or academic credit

Students may earn monetary compensation or academic credit for lab projects. 

UROP will fund undergraduate research projects on campus during semesters and summers.

• Team Grants provide funding for small faculty-led teams of students.  These are appropriate to apply for before choosing your student team, and can support approximately 300 undergraduate student hours (e.g. 4 students for 5 hrs/week for one semester).  UROP will open applications for Summer 2018 and/or Academic Year 2018-19 projects in December 2017; applications will be due February 16, 2018.
• Student Grants are proposed by undergraduate students with the aid of a faculty mentor.
• sample UROP application available upon request

Students can also be funded from faculty grants.

Pay rates are set according to the On Campus Student Employment Procedures (see page 10).

Students who are already identified to work on a project can also apply for Sigma Xi Grants in Aid of Research, but this funding will only support travel, equipment or laboratory costs necessary for performing the research (in math, this could take the form of materials and equipment for 3d printing, for example).

Students can also work for academic credit.

Finding Students for your Team

We can help you design a webpage for your project with a description and application instructions -- see our template.

We wil advertise your project across campus, and provide advice and resources for managing the selection process.

Sharing your Results

Here is a poster template you may use for creating Experimental Mathematics Lab posters.  It can be downloaded or copied and used on Overleaf.com, an online LaTeX collaboration platform.

Some possibilities for student posters and presentations:

• RIO Poster Session yearly in Fall as part of RIO Week at CU
• Pikes Peak Undergraduate Mathematics Conference run by the Rocky Mountain MAA Section yearly in February
• Central States Math Undergrad Research conference yearly in April
• Southwestern Undergraduate Mathematics Research Conference (SUnMaRC) is held yearly in April, deadlines in February
• Joint Mathematics Meetings yearly in January (talk abstracts due in Sept; undergraduate student travel grant applications and poster session submissions due in early October)
  • JMM Student Poster Session
  • contributed paper sessions
• Mathfest yearly in August (abstract submissions in April)
• More info about student research presentation opportunities from MAA

Some possibilities for publications:

• Involve:  A Journal of Mathematics.  They describe themselves as "bridging the gap between the extremes of purely undergraduate research journals and mainstream research journals"
• Columbia Journal of Undergraduate Mathematics  For expository articles.
• Rose-Hulman Undergraduate Journal.  For articles with undergraduate-only authors.
• SIAM Undergraduate Research Online.  For articles with undergraduate-only authors, and a focus on applied and computational mathematics.
• Minnesota Journal of Undergraduate Mathematics.  For articles with undergraduate-only authors.
• Ball State Undergraduate.  Wide scope of articles for an undergraduate audience on topics going beyond classroom toward research.
• The Journal of Young Investigators.  Science more generally, undergraduate-only authors.
• Pi Mu Epsilon Journal.  By or for undergraduates.

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