Movie Night!

The first Math Club of 2012 is this

Wednesday, February 1st at 5pm in SCI 324.

Notice that we’re in the Film and Media Studies Lounge in Old Science Hall 324.  That’s right next door to PHSC.  Here it is on the campus map:

Click on the map to make it bigger.

We’ll be watching the Best Picture nominated film Moneyball.  We learned from John Paul Cook last semester that there is lots of interesting math in the Moneyball story.  Plus there’s Brad Pitt (An Okie!), Jonah Hill, and baseball.  Something for everyone!

Here’s the trailer:

And, as always, Free Pizza!

REU III

Here is another summer REU opportunity we were sent:

The University of Texas at Tyler Mathematics Department will be hosting an NSF-funded REU site for summer 2012. The REU in mathematics is targeting minority (especially American Indian) and first generation college students, but we encourage everyone to apply. We invite talented undergraduate students to submit an application to participate in our NSF REU
Site.

Students will work in groups of three with faculty advisors in the areas of combinatorics on words, knot theory, and tiling theory. In addition to research group work, students will have many opportunities to interact with faculty and other students in seminars and other social activities. The eight week program will run from June 18 to August 10. Participants will
receive a $4000 stipend to pay for housing, food, and entertainment while staying in Tyler.

Students must be U.S. citizens or permanent residents to participate. We will begin reviewing applications on February 13 and will likely make offers by mid-March. Please direct appropriate students to our website http://www.math.uttyler.edu/reu/ .

If you have students who you feel should be invited to submit an application, then please send their names and email addresses to Dr. Jennifer McLoud-Mann.

REU II

As promised, the REU opportunities keep coming in.  This one is a bit unusual in that you not only get to do summer research but maybe do save the Earth at the same time!

The C2B2/NSF REU program offers undergraduate students the opportunity to engage in meaningful research alongside faculty, post-doctoral researchers and graduate students at each of our four partnering institutions. Students will be conducting research in one of C2B2′s six thrust areas at either the University of Colorado in Boulder, Colorado State University in Ft. Collins, Colorado School of Mines in Golden or the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Golden.

Along with research duties, all students participate in educational seminars, C2B2 institution site visits, industry site visits, planned social activities and cultural experiences.

Students will learn how researchers of varying disciplines at all four sites collaborate to solve biofuel and biorefining challenges. This program provides the students a rich and diverse ten week experience within the beautiful backdrop of the Colorado Rocky Mountains.

Eligibility Information:

• Students from all academic fields, interested in bioenergy research.
• U.S. citizens, permanent residents, and international citizens.
• Undergraduates currently enrolled in a degree-seeking program at the time of program participation.

More information and applications can be found here.

REU I

’tis the season for REU’s.  What’s an REU?  It’s a Research Experience for Undergraduates.  That is, it’s a summer program where you are paid to work with faculty on an honest-to-goodness research project.  We talked about them last year.

The deadlines to apply are in January-March, so you should be applying now!   We’ll post any announcements here on the Math Club blog, but you should also go to OU Math Dept. webpage for math majors to find listings for lots of other opportunities.

Here’s one:

ALGORITHMIC COMBINATORICS ON WORDS

This Research Experiences for Undergraduates program entitled Algorithmic Combinatorics on Words is on interdisciplinary research at the crossroads between Mathematics and Computer Science. The University of North Carolina at Greensboro will provide unique opportunities for summer research for ten outstanding and highly motivated students for an eight-week period (June 4–July 28, 2012). Participants will work in small teams under the supervision of Professor Francine Blanchet-Sadri and in consultation with expert programmers.

Students will be introduced to various challenging algorithmic combinatorial problems on partial words, which are sequences of symbols over a finite alphabet that may have some “do not know” symbols. Two types of research opportunities will be emphasized:

1. computer related research, with students writing programs to perform experiments on partial words and to implement algorithms; and

2. combinatorics related research, with students investigating properties on partial words to generate conjectures, to prove theorems, and to discover algorithms.

Students will be exposed to the techniques of language theory since this is a natural framework for formalizing and investigating sequences and operations on them. Students will gain experience in the use of computers and their interaction in mathematical research. In addition, students will establish World Wide Web server interfaces for automated use of their programs.

NSF support through this REU program is open only to undergraduate students who are, at the time of application, citizens or permanent residents of the United States or its possessions. Support is intended for students whose undergraduate study is in Mathematics and/or Computer Science. In most cases, a student has three opportunities to apply: during the sophomore or junior year of college, or during the beginning of the senior year of college (Spring 2012 graduates will not be eligible). The ideal candidate for this project would have taken a wide variety of upper-level mathematics and/or computer science courses including some of the following: Discrete Mathematics, Combinatorics, Algorithms, Theoretical Computer Science, and Programming. The program involves extensive computer programming and requires some experience using a language such as Java. Admission will be competitive and based on motivation, strength of the academic record, and letters of recommendation. Students admitted to this program will be given a $5,000 stipend, travel to/from Greensboro, housing, and travel allowance for participation in an international conference.

Students should send application materials to
Professor Francine Blanchet-Sadri, 167 Petty Building, University of North Carolina, P.O. Box 26170, Greensboro, NC 27402–6170
Deadline for applications is
February 21, 2012

A World Wide Web site has been designed at
http://www.uncg.edu/cmp/reu
that contains current information about the program. For any additional information, contact Professor Francine Blanchet-Sadri

Welcome Back!

Hopefully yours was as interesting as Charlotte’s First Day.

Addendum:  The full video is here:

Joint Meetings in the News

As we talked about around this time last year, every year there is a joint meeting of the various mathematical societies of the US (the JMM).  This year it was in Boston (weatherwise not quite New Orleans!).  Thousands and thousands of professors, graduate students, and undergrads get together to give and hear math talks, give out awards, interview job candidates, and do lots of other Very Serious Mathematical Things.  Pretty much everything you can imagine mathematicians do when they get together.

And maybe a few things you didn’t imagine!  This year NPR did a story about the JMM.  You can hear it here.  They tell about the playful side of the meeting.  As their promo for the story says:

At a meeting of 6,000 mathematicians in Boston, a reporter finds people dancing, crocheting, knitting and using theater to explore and celebrate their discipline.

And you really should check out Dr. Sarah-Marie Belcastro mathematical knitting page (here).  You can find (with instructions!) such gems as the Klein Bottle stocking cap:

Summer Research in OK!

Adrienne Jablonski let us know of this great opportunity to do biomedical research in OKC this summer.  It’s a great opportunity for OU math folks with an interest in biology/med school/etc.  Check it out!  Notice that it is a paid opportunity and the deadline is February 1, 2012!

Good afternoon,

We are now accepting applications for Fleming Scholar Program at Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation’s (OMRF).  If you know any scientifically passionate students, will you please encourage them to apply (http://omrf.org/fleming)?

This program grants selected students an opportunity to work side-by-side with real life research scientists for eight weeks during the summer.  Scholars also get paid and housing is provided for those who qualify.  Applicants do NOT need to have any prior science experience or formal education.   Passion, curiosity, diligence and enthusiasm are really what we are looking for.

The application deadline is February 1, and more information is available at http://omrf.org/fleming.

Requirements:

• Submit online application by February 1
• Send (or have sent) up to three recommendation letters
• Possess strong enthusiasm for science
• Be a high school senior or college freshman, sophomore or junior
• Be a graduate or soon-to-be graduate from an Oklahoma high school

The fantastic Fleming Scholar Program flyer can be viewed here: http://omrf.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/Fleming-2012.pdf.

I really appreciate you posting flyers and helping us spread the word!  If you, your colleagues or students need additional information, do not hesitate to contact me.

Thank you!

Courtney Stevens, SPHR

Human Resources Advisor

Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation

825 NE 13th Street

Oklahoma City, OK 73104

(800)522-0211 toll free

(405)271-7434 office

Happy Birthday Stephen Hawking!

It’s Dr. Hawking’s 70th birthday today!    He’s known, of course, for being the most recognizable mathematical physicist alive.  But in the 24th century he’s a mean poker player, too:

Ken Ribet vs. Serge Lang

Serge Lang is a mathematician known for inspiring strong feelings.  Check out this post on facebook for the story behind:

Thanks to Cathy O’Neil for the heads up!

Mathematical Card Tricks on the BBC

A winter break treat from the BBC!  They talk a bit about the mathematics of card tricks with one of the few people equally famous among mathematicians and magicians: Persi Diaconis.

Persi Diaconis

To give you an idea what sort of fellow he is, according to Wikipedia Persi supported himself while as a student by playing poker on passenger ships traveling between New York City and South America!

You can listen to the interview here (use the slider to jump to 14.50 to hear the good stuff).

Be sure to catch where Persi mentions that he had our own Martin Gardner as a recommendation letter writer for grad school!

And a nod to Dave Benson for facebooking the BBC interview.