Math Dept 2013-2014 Newsletter 12
Monday, 9 December
2013
Last
newsletter for this semester. Happy Holidays everyone!
Newsletter is sent out
when there is something new.
Please send entries by
the end of the week --Ed
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MEETINGS AND SEMINARS
IN THE DEPARTMENT
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Every Monday
1. Combinatorics Seminar
The combinatorics seminar will meet on Mondays at 3pm in room
201 ASB-B.
Alex Burstein will
talk about pattern avoiding permutations.
Those interested but
unable to attend at that hour should contact Alex Burstein or Lou Shapiro.
Organizers: Alex
Burstein and Lou Shapiro
2.
Geometry and Topology Seminar
ASB-B 213 3.00 to 4pm
Speaker: Professor
Joseph Yeager
Topic: SYMPLECTIC AND CONTACT GEOMETRY.
Stanley M.
Einstein-Matthews
Coordinator
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Every Tuesday
The
Seminar on Topological Semigroups and Ramsey Theory
Tuesdays at 11:10 a.m in room 231 of Annex III
Dev Phulara will be speaking in the Seminar on Topological Semigroups and Ramsey Theory.
His topic will be
"A generalized Central Sets Theorem".
Organizer: Neil Hindman
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Friday Dec 13
The
Math Holiday Party
Friday, December 13th
at 12 pm in ASB 213.
Please let Talitha Washington know what dish you can bring to share.
Fluid
dynamics seminar
No fluid dynamics for
the rest of semester.
Follows Colloquium., Starts at 4.30 if no colloquium is scheduled
Abstract: (by
Neil Hindman)
The "Fluid"
refers to soda and beer. The "Dynamics" refers to
the topics of conversation, which is as likely as anything to deal with
RGIII and the Washington Football Club. Pizza, including a vegetarian
option, and wings are provided.
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TALKS AND EVENTS
OUTSIDE THE DEPARTMENT
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ANNOUNCEMENTS
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1. (Talitha Washington) Special Sessions at the Joint
Meetings, Jan 2014
Please write to her
for more information about the special sessions on the 16th (Dynamical Systems)
and the 17th (Mathematicians of the African Diaspora).
2.
Free e-book trial
Howard UniversityÕs library has
a free trial access to the e-book titles from World Scientific Publishing
Company and Imperial College Press, until 07 December 2013 including many
interesting titles from Mathematics. Please log on to the campus network
before browsing these e-books.
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SCHOLARSHIP AND
FELLOWSHIP OPPORTUNITIES (from various sources)
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1. Summer UG
intern Programs at ICERM, Brown University (Thanks to Louise Raphael)
Details at http://icerm.brown.edu/summerug_2014
Deadline to apply feb 7.
2. U.S.
Department of Homeland Security Opportunities (Thanks to Muhammad Mahmood)
(DHS) 2014
HS-STEM Summer Internships
Application deadline:
January 6, 2014
Undergraduate
students receive a $5,000 stipend plus travel expenses.
Detailed information
about the internships can be found at:http://www.orau.gov/dhseducation/internships/
Faculty research opportunities with future research funding possibility also available:
See http://www.orau.gov/dhseducation/faculty/index.html for
additional details
U.S.
citizenship required
Deadline has
been extended to Jan 6.
3. The
USAID Payne International Development Program is Now Accepting Applications for
the 2014 Payne International Development Graduate Fellowship
The Payne
Graduate Fellowship Program welcomes applications from young people
interested in careers in international development. Fellows can use the
fellowship to attend two-year master's programs in U.S. institutions to study
any area of relevance to the USAID Foreign Service, including international
development, international relations, public policy, business administration,
foreign languages, economics, agriculture, environmental sciences, health, or
urban planning.
Applicants
must be college seniors or graduates looking to start a two-year graduate
program in fall 2014, must have a GPA of at least 3.2 and must be U.S.
citizens. The program welcomes any undergraduate major and encourages
applications from members of minority groups historically underrepresented in
USAID Foreign Service and those with financial need. Information and
application materials can be found at www.paynefellows.org. The application deadline
is Jan. 27, 2014.
4. The Department of Energy (DOE)
Opportunities
The DOE Mickey Leland fellowship and DOE Scholars
Program are now accepting applications for Summer 2014.
Visit http://orise.orau.gov/doescholars or http://orise.orau.gov/mlef for more
information or to apply - deadline is January 12, 2014!
5. From NOAA: The National
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is pleased to announce
the availability of scholarships (includes internships) to college
sophomore students majoring in STEM disciplines related to oceanic and
atmospheric science, research, or technology, and supportive of the purposes of
NOAA's programs and mission, e.g., biological, social and physical sciences;
mathematics; engineering; and computer and information sciences.
á Educational
Partnership Program Undergraduate Scholarship: http://www.epp.noaa.gov/ssp_undergrad_page.html
Application
Deadline: January 31, 2014
á Ernest
F. Hollings Undergraduate Scholarship Program: http://www.oesd.noaa.gov/scholarships/hollings.html
Application
Deadline: January 31, 2014
6. Support
to Attend a Workshop ÒMathematics of Planet Earth: Challenges and
OpportunitiesÓ
(Thanks to
Aziz Yakubu)
A workshop
ÒMathematics of Planet Earth: Challenges and OpportunitiesÓ will be held at
Arizona State University January 7-10, 2014. The workshop aims to expose
students and junior researchers to the challenges facing our planet, the role
of the mathematical sciences in addressing those challenges, and the
opportunities to get involved in the effort. Funds are available to support
participants to attend this workshop and to participate in follow-up
activities. Workshop speakers include Carlos
Castillo-Chavez, Arizona State University, and Abdul-Aziz Yakubu, Howard University
The workshop
will provide introductions to the role of the mathematical sciences in
addressing problems of the planet. There will be an introduction to the five
major workshop themes of MPE 2013+ through expository lectures and discussions.
All participants will be invited to participate in one of the following
workshops, which could include the Education for the Planet Earth of Tomorrow.
An application form can be found athttp://dimacs.rutgers.edu/Workshops/MPE2013PreWorkshop/.
It will include both an application to attend and an application
for financial support. Review of applications will begin October 1, 2013, and
will continue until all slots are filled.
For more
information about Challenges and Opportunities workshop as well as the MPE2013+
program, please contact Dr. Eugene Fiorini at mpe2013-plus@dimacs.rutgers.edu.
7. From
Oak Ridge Labs (Thanks to Louise Raphael)
Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL)
has a long history and interest in providing hands-on research experiences to
students at all academic levels.
Please visit http://www.orau.org/ornl and click on
your academic level to learn more about educational programs at Oak Ridge
National Laboratory. Complete your profile in the Talent and Opportunity System
(TOppS) system and then apply to one or all of the
program postings. Applications must be submitted visa the TOppS
system. See the programs web sites for suggested deadline dates.
Among opportunities available: Higher Education
Research Experiences (HERE) and Nuclear Engineering (NESLS)
8. (via Aziz Yakubu) From SIAM: Undergraduates can submit to
SIAM online journal
Do your undergraduates conduct exceptional research
in applied or computational mathematics? Please encourage them to
submit their work to SIUROÜSIAM Undergraduate Research Online.
Students who submit papers to SIURO experience a full
review process tailored for undergraduate authors.
More on the submission process, the editorial board,
and viewable published papers can be accessed at
http://www.siam.org/students/siuro.
9. (Thanks to Aziz Yakubu) Volunteer Opportunities in Africa
One HeartSource,
a grassroots, non-profit organization founded by university students
is accepting applications for 2014 Volunteer Programs from both graduate
and undergraduate students, especially at Howard University .
Since 2008, over 700 international volunteers have joined One Heart Source in
the pursuit of providing high-quality education and care for vulnerable
children in Sub-Saharan Africa.This year we are also
offering a 2-week program for working professionals!
If you or your students have any
questions regarding our programs or organization, please contact Gabriela Weigel at eastcoast.region@oneheartsource.org
10. (From Aziz Yakubu)
Opportunities at the Navy
HBCU Undergradute
Program:
http://www.onr.navy.mil/Education-Outreach/HBCU-MI-Historically-Black-Colleges/NRL-HBCU-MI-Undergraduate-Internship.aspx
NREIP
Program:
http://www.onr.navy.mil/en/Education-Outreach/undergraduate-graduate/NREIP-naval-internship.aspx
Summer
Faculty Program:
http://www.onr.navy.mil/Education-Outreach/Summer-Faculty-Research-Sabbatical.aspx
11. (From
Aziz Yakubu) Opportunities at NASA
Spring 2014 throug spring of 2015 NASA will have workshops, research
projects and internship opportunities for undergrads in STEM programs.
Howard
students are especially encouraged to apply.
More
information at http://DCSpaceGrant.org/STEM
12. Mathematics Research Funding Opportunity (thanks
to Constance Ellison)
Development of
Mathematical Cognition and Reasoning and the Prevention of Math Learning
Disabilities (R03)
13. Internship
Opportunities at NASA and through NSF (thanks to Aziz Yakubu).
For Undergraduates:
Paid Summer 2014 Undergrad Research
Opportunities:
More than 650 programs – REU
and other summer research opportunities for undergrads
For Financial
Support in Graduate School:
Bridge to the Doctorate, IGERT and
NSF Grad Research Fellowship programs provide generous stipend and tuition
support for students through the National Science Foundation.
For Postdoc
opportunities:
More than 250
openings nationwide.
For NASA-supported
internships, fellowships and scholarships
14. NebraskaÕs Summer Research Program
NebraskaÕs summer program offers research
opportunities in the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics fields
in addition to a new interdisciplinary Minority Health Disparities program
doing research in and around the social sciences. A complete listing of faculty
mentors and research project descriptions can be found on our website at http://www.unl.edu/summerprogram.
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INTERESTING ARTICLES AND WEBSITES
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1. (From Aziz
Yakubu) Improving minority participation in STEM
education
Stereotypes are dangerous—they
hurt, they mislead and they ultimately diminish us all. When whole groups are
stereotyped, prejudices that damage the social and educational fabric
result. This problem is evident when women and minorities are
stereotyped in the science, technology, engineering and math fields known as
STEM. The challenge of enrolling and graduating more women and minorities in
STEM fields has drawn national attention. The College Board has undertaken an
initiative to enroll more young women and minority students in STEM advanced
placement courses and the American Association of University Women has a large
outreach program for young women wishing to enter STEM fields.
As part of this national
conversation, AIRÕs Center for STEM Education and Innovation<http://www.air.org/focus-area/education/?id=10>
held a two-day symposium in late September on using research to inform policies
and practices<http://www.air.org/focus-area/education/index.cfm?fa=viewContent&content_id=2305&id=10>
in STEM education, particularly in higher education.
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