$1.9 Million Grant To Enhance Mathematics Education

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(Last updated 5/23/02)

$1.9 MILLION GRANT TO ENHANCE MATHEMATICS EDUCATION

Thanks to a $1.9 million grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF), more Ohio State University students than ever before will have opportunities for hands-on mathematics research experience. Innovative programs will help students discover how math can provide the foundation for an exciting and ever-growing number of careers -- from science, to finance, to national security.

The five-year grant -- which could later be raised to a total of nearly $3.9 million -- is part of an NSF program called Grants for Vertical Integration of Research and Education in the Mathematical Sciences (VIGRE).

Peter March

"VIGRE will enhance connections among graduate students, undergraduates, and faculty, and enable more students to do research so they can get an early start on their careers," said Peter March, chair of the Department of Mathematics. "In general, we want to expose all students to the wide range of career opportunities that are available to them if they choose mathematics."

For instance, mathematics students often go on to work in industry or government laboratories. March also cited the National Security Agency (NSA), which is the single largest employer of mathematicians in the United States. NSA careers include cryptography, the science of writing and breaking codes -- one math-based career that is critical to government intelligence. Insurance agencies, banks, and Wall Street investment firms all need employees who are skilled in high-level mathematical techniques, too.

"Peter March and his colleagues in Mathematics wrote a creative and forward looking proposal which won extraordinarily high marks from the National Science Foundation," said Robert Gold, dean, College of Mathematical and Physical Sciences. "The department's program will greatly benefit our students and put Ohio State on the national map for education in higher mathematics."

Key Ohio State faculty who will help implement the VIGRE program include March; professor and vice chair Daniel Shapiro; and professors Vitaly Bergelson, Henri Moscovici, Björn Sandstede, and Warren Sinnott.

Components of Ohio State's VIGRE program will include:

Invitation to research: A year-long survey course, team-taught by more than 15 members of the senior faculty, will introduce all beginning mathematics graduate students to current active research areas.
Working group rotations: Graduate and undergraduate students will have hands-on involvement in research and learning, by spending time in faculty research groups.
Professional development seminars: Topics will include teaching, computer literacy, and communicating mathematics to a general audience, among others.
Enhanced Advising and Mentoring: Each new doctoral student will be assigned a mentor who will help that student choose a dissertation advisor and guide his or her progress for the first few years of graduate study.
Pipeline Programs: Research experiences specifically designed for undergraduates, including the presentation of research projects at the National Undergraduate Research Conference.
Teacher Component to Ross Program: The Ross Summer Mathematics Program, an Ohio State outreach program for gifted high school students from across the country, lets students and local teachers spend the summer attending university seminars on mathematics. The existing program will now expand the number of participating high school teachers from five to 15.

Activities based on the initial $1.9 million may expand later; NSF will provide up to an additional $1.9 million, pending a favorable third-year review of the program.

NSF created VIGRE in 1998 to "increase the number of well-prepared U.S. citizens, nationals, and permanent residents who pursue careers in the mathematical sciences." Since then, many of the top research universities have received a VIGRE grant, including the Universities of Illinois, Michigan and Wisconsin, as well as Harvard and Princeton.

Contact: Peter March, (614) 292-7173; March.2@osu.edu

Written by Pam Frost Gorder, (614) 292-9475; Gorder.1@osu.edu