Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU): June 16 - August 8, 2014.

Research Experience for Teachers (RET): June 23 - August 8, 2014.

Research topics for summer 2014 include:
Topological and Statistical Data Analysis,       Competitive Graph Coloring,       Visualizing Dessins d'Enfants,
Geometric Intersection Graphs,       Mixing times of Markov chains

About the REU-RET:

The Willamette Valley Mathematics Research Consortium for Undergraduates and Teachers is a summer REU-RET program at Willamette University, Linfield College, Lewis & Clark College, and the University of Portland. All four schools are located in the Willamette Valley of northwest Oregon. Summers in Oregon are known for warm dry days with no humidity; a perfect environment for activities such as hiking, biking, and math research!

Our program consists of four research teams, one per partner institution, each with four students, one teacher, and two faculty mentors for an eight-week REU and seven-week RET. Each team will focus on one of four challenging research projects from a faculty mentors' area of expertise. Consortium meetings will bring together the four research groups regularly to speak about their projects, learn about the progress of their peers, listen to presentations by invited speakers from academia and industry, and network with other students and faculty.

The primary goal of our REU-RET is to immerse undergraduates and teachers in a challenging, transformative research experience that will reveal the nature of mathematics research. Throughout the summer undergraduates and teachers will develop new content knowledge, research skills, and an increased understanding of the process of mathematical discovery and research. Within their research teams and at Consortium meetings, participants will improve their ability to communicate current mathematical research in an effective and engaging manner. All participants will develop a greater awareness of career opportunities in STEM fields. As in previous years, REU research results will be disseminated through student co-authored publications, through public presentations, and online. Teachers will create materials to be used in the classroom and disseminated at professional meetings; the REU-RET provides partial funding for students and teachers to present at conferences. Through these program activities our broader goals are to increase the number of students who pursue advanced study and careers in STEM fields, increase the number of teachers with an understanding of mathematical discovery and research, and increase the effective communication of mathematical research.

For a list of NSF-sponsored REU programs: NSF-sponsored math REU programs.

Questions? Please contact Dr. Inga Johnson, ijohnson (at) willamette (dot) edu, or Dr. Colin Starr, cstarr (at) willamette (dot) edu.