Category Archives: Undergraduate research

Career opportunities, Department of Statistics, Scholarships/Fellowships, Undergraduate research

The American Statistical Association

Introduce your Statistics Students to the ASA!
Thank you for your help introducing your students to the American Statistical Association over the years. Student membership has steadily increased to over 4700 students, thanks in large part to your help.
We hope you will continue to help us build our Student Membership by encouraging your students to become a part of the ASA.
Student Membership is offered at the deep discount of only $15.
Student Members receive all of our great benefits including:
We are also seeking assistance in reaching recent Ph.D. graduates. If allowable, please forward a list of any recent graduates so that ASA can extend a special offer for membership to these new statisticians. Alternatively, reach out to them and let them know they can join the ASA at a deep discount as well.
Thank you for your time, attention, and support! If you have any questions or would like further information please contact Kalil Deschamps. We look forward to continuing the celebration of the International Year of Statistics, and hope you will join us in 2014 as we celebrate the 175th Anniversary of the ASA. We hope you have a successful 2013-2014 academic year!
 The International Year of Statistics (Statistics2013)
Informational Meeting, Scholarships/Fellowships, Undergraduate research

NCSA recruiting undergraduates

On behalf of the National Center for Supercomputing Applications we would be grateful if you could help spread the word about NCSA’s research & development opportunities for undergraduates. NCSA’s SPIN (Students Pushing Innovation) program continues this year — we’ll be recruiting another cohort of undergraduate research fellows at an open house from 4 to 6 p.m. Aug. 27 at the NCSA Building. We would greatly appreciate anything you can do to help us get the word out!
Website for the program: http://spin.ncsa.illinois.edu/
Thanks!
National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA)
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Course Announcements, Undergraduate research

AAS 490: research course

I hope you are all enjoying what is left of summer. I’d like to notify you of a unique research class offering for this Fall 2013 semester.

Course description:
This course allows students to have supervised participation in social science research activities. Students are expected to conduct participant observation and interviews, read and discuss classmates field notes, and become familiar with a key body of literature pertaining to the research question. The group meets once a week to discuss fieldwork and academic literature. This course will be 3 credit hours. This year the research lab is examining how escalating numbers of international undergraduates are transforming the University of Illinois in particular and the American university more generally. This course will also offer students an unique opportunity to work closely with faculty, graduate students, and other undergraduates involved in a research project that examines the impact of international undergraduates on our campus.

If you are indeed interested could you please:
1) Email Prof Soo Ah Kwon sakwon@illinois.edu and let her know you are interested.
2) Enroll in AAS 490.  Please do this ASAP.
Graduate students: AAS 490  CRN# 45334 (4 credit hours)
Undergraduates: AAS 490 CRN# 45335 (3 credit hours)

Please note that on the course information/class schedule the course is listed as occurring on Mondays 9-11:20. PLEASE IGNORE THIS. The class will meet either 2 or 2.5 hours once a week but we have not figured out a class time class meeting time but  once you confirm your participation you’ll be included in our doodle poll to figure out a time that works best for everyone.

If for some reason you’d like to enroll and it won’t let you because of time conflict of a class you are already signed up for, please email Prof Kwon atsakwon@illinois.edu.

Please let me know if you have any questions and I’d be glad to answer. Also feel free to forward this to anyone who may be interested as well.

Scholarships/Fellowships, Undergraduate research

Peter and Joan Hood Internship

The College of Liberal Arts and Sciences Invites undergraduate student applications for the 2013-2014 Peter and Joan Hood Internship.

One upper-level LAS student will be selected to serve as a paid intern in the Student Academic Affairs Office in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, assisting the Associate Dean and Assistant Deans with special projects and research studies pertaining to LAS Student Academic Affairs. Projects may include evaluative assistance in the study of “best practices,” in addition to support in the areas of access, admissions, honors, undergraduate research, transfer articulation, unit assessment and surveys.

Please make your students aware of this opportunity!  The hourly rate will be $9.00 (4-6 hours a week by arrangement each semester). The application is attached; deadline for fullest consideration is July 29, 2013.

Application materials may be hand-delivered, sent by mail (faxes will not be accepted) to LAS Honors, Student Academic Affairs Office, 2002 Lincoln Hall, 702 S. Wright St., Urbana, IL 61801, or electronically to las-studentoffice@illinois.edu (be sure to write HOOD INTERNSHIP in subject line of email).

Activities, Seminars, Undergraduate research

Young Mathematicians Conference 2013

Dear colleagues and students,

We are excited to announce the tenth

YOUNG MATHEMATICIANS CONFERENCE
at The Ohio State University
August 9th – 11th,  2013   (Fri-Sun)
Please mark the date and forward this announcement to any students or teachers you know are involved in undergraduate research in mathematics. All information about this year’s conference has been posted or will be updated at
APPLICATIONS
We are inviting applications from undergraduate students involved in REUs and similar programs to present their research in talks and poster sessions. We expect to invite and fully support around seventy student presenters, and hope to be able to provide partial support for accompanying mentors who are also invited to apply. Online applications will open in early June followed by our second announcement. The deadline for applications will be
Monday July 8th   5:00pm EDT
 
SPECIAL EVENTS
Besides the student presentations, we are delighted to have the following distinguished speakers to deliver the plenary talks at YMC 2013 :
Frank Calegari
(Northwestern University)
Marta Lewicka  
(University of Pittsburgh)
Ravi Vakil
(Stanford University)
As in previous years we will have our “Graduate School Orientation” event with invited representatives from several different US graduate programs in mathematics (this year’s schools include UIUC, Oregon State, Dartmouth, and OSU with more to come). At this popular venue questions ranging from choices of schools, nuts and bolts of applications, and what life is like as a grad student are discussed.

We will once again hold an Outstanding Presentation Competition, and, as usual, will provide many opportunities for interaction between junior and senior conference participants.


JUDGING
Applications will be judged and scored right after the submission deadline by a panel of mathematics faculty so that we expect most decisions to be available in the week following the deadline. Last year we had 136 applicants (with 108 projects) of which 75 participants (presenting 56 projects) were selected.
Judges Wanted
If you are interested in undergraduate research, hold a mathematics Ph.D. (preferably faculty position), have four or so hours time and internet access in the days following the deadline, and would like to help with judging please email us at ymc@math.osu.edu for details. Please disclose possible conflicts of interests so we can try to work around them.

The conference is funded under NSF Grant DMS-1252904 (20013-2015) and supported with additional funds by the Department of Mathematics at The Ohio State University.

For any additional questions and comments please contact us at ymc@math.osu.edu

Sincerely,

YMC 2013 Organizing Committee
Rodica Costin (Ohio State Univ)
Craig Jackson (Ohio Wesleyan Univ)
Bart Snapp (Ohio State Univ)


YMC 2013 Advisory Board
Ruth Charney (Brandeis)
Robert Devaney (Boston Univ)
Dennis DeTurck (Univ Pennsylvania)
Carolyn Gordon (Dartmouth College)
Loek Helminck (North Carolina State)
Aparna Higgins (Univ of Dayton)
Roman Holowinsky (The Ohio State Univ)
Thomas Kerler (The Ohio State Univ)
Bryna Kra (Northwestern Univ)
Donal O’Shea (Mount Holyoke)
Monica Visan (UCLA)
Kim Whittlesey (UIUC)
Scholarships/Fellowships, Undergraduate research

Travel Grants for UG Research

The Office of Undergraduate Research (OUR) at the University of Illinois is pleased to announce its spring 2013 competition for travel grants to subsidize the presentation of undergraduate research at professional conferences.  Proposals should be submitted at https://illinois.edu/fb/sec/2164154 and the deadline for submission is 1 May 2013.
In order to apply, students will need to have information on the conference dates and location, evidence that conference participation has been confirmed, estimated expenses, and possible support from mentors and departments.
 
Please note that the travel grants are designed for students to present their research during the summer and fall semesters 2013 (another competition will be announced later in 2013).  In addition, these travel grants are not designed to cover the entire cost of student participation (some departmental or college contribution is encouraged) nor can the grant be used to cover post conference participation.
Questions should be directed to ugresearch@illinois.edu.
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Informational Meeting, Scholarships/Fellowships, Undergraduate research

Student Fulbright Information Session

The National and International Scholarships Program has scheduled a 90-minute workshop focusing on U.S. student Fulbright grants for Thursday, May 2 from 3:30-5:00 in room 66 of the Library (enter down the stairs from Wright Street). Our workshop will include advice from recent Illinois Fulbright recipients. The session is targeted to juniors, graduating seniors, and graduate students who wish to explore opportunities available under a Fulbright and ready materials for the Fulbright Priority Deadline of July 1, 2013.
 
These scholarships support U.S. citizens for one year of study or research in any country where there is a Fulbright Commission. English teaching programs (some with minimal to no foreign language or teaching experience necessary) also are available. Students must begin working on their applications this summer to apply for funding for study, teaching, or research beginning in fall 2014. We anticipate more than a dozen University of Illinois students being offered Fulbright grants. Click here for further information about applying for a Fulbright grant from Illinois.
General Information regarding the Fulbright
For over 60 years, the federal government-sponsored Fulbright U.S. Student Program has provided future American leaders with an unparalleled opportunity to study, conduct research, and teach in other countries. Fulbright student grants aim to increase mutual understanding among nations through educational and cultural exchange while serving as a catalyst for long-term leadership development.The Fulbright U.S. Student Program awards approximately 1,700 grants annually and currently operates in 140 countries worldwide.  Fulbright English Teaching Assistantships are now available to more than 65 countries. Fulbright grants generally provide funding for round-trip travel, maintenance for one academic year, health and accident coverage and full or partial tuition.

Applicants to the Fulbright U.S. Student Program must be U.S. citizens at the time of application and hold a bachelor’s degree or the equivalent by the beginning of the grant. The Fulbright U.S. Student Program does not require applicants to be currently enrolled in a college or university. Applications from young professionals interested in an international experience are also encouraged.

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Other departments, Undergraduate research

HDFS 494: STRONG Kids and Food and Family Programs

Family Resiliency Center Now Accepting Applications for  HDFS 494 Undergraduate Research Courses for Fall 2013/Spring 2014
 
The Family Resiliency Center is offering two Undergraduate Research Courses next year, one for the STRONG Kids Program and one for our Food and Family Program.  We are currently recruiting students who will have Sophomore, Junior or Senior standing in the Fall ’13 to enroll in these courses.  Students may enroll in 2-3 hours of credit for these courses.  
 
The purpose of these two-semester year-long supervised research courses is to provide students with a first-hand experience working as part of a research team as well as to help them develop a working knowledge of the theory and applications of trans-disciplinary research used to guide the specific research program. Students will:
·         Be provided with an overview of the Research Program issues;
·         Develop oral and written communication skills; data management skills; team building skills; critical thinking skills; and professional work environment skills;
·         Be trained in mixed methods relevant to factors that contribute to child and family health;
·         Identify opportunities and barriers in transdisciplinary team work;
·         Prepare a scientific presentation that reflects the students’ knowledge of transdisciplinary science gained through working on one of the program subprojects. The presentation will be given at a scientific conference held in the Spring 2014.
 
Additional information about these research courses, as well as a downloadable application can be found on our website at:  http://familyresiliency.illinois.edu/SKUnderResearch.htm and is attached to this email.   Flyers for posting are also attached.
 
Please contact: Jen Themanson, Coordinator, 217-244-5119 or jthemans@illinois.edu  if you have any questions.
Scholarships/Fellowships, Undergraduate research

Fellowship/Grant Opportunities

Please pass these opportunities on to your students.

Spring Deadline

 
This new program provides small grants for Illinois students to partner with an outside entity, such as a school, government or nonprofit agency, to solve a problem or provide a service while utilizing their education and learning. Applications require a signature from a faculty sponsor and community partner. Applications for this inaugural program are due April 5, 2013.
Questions? Shelley L. Mix • Office of Public Engagement
 
Fall Deadline
 
The Office of Public Engagement seeks proposals from faculty, students, and staff to fund community-related projects, scholarly work, creative endeavors, course development, and other activities within the broad framework of public engagement. Grants of up to $20,000 will be made available on a competitive basis. The request for proposals will be available August 26, 2013, and the proposal submission deadline is September 27, 2013 at 5:00 p.m.
Questions? Tracy M. Parish • Office of Public Engagement
Course Announcements, Undergraduate research

HDFS 494 STRONG Kids and Food and Family Programs

Family Resiliency Center Now Accepting Applications for  HDFS 494 Undergraduate Research Courses for Fall 2013/Spring 2014
 
The Family Resiliency Center is offering two Undergraduate Research Courses next year, one for the STRONG Kids Program and one for our Food and Family Program.  We are currently recruiting students who will have Sophomore, Junior or Senior standing in the Fall ’13 to enroll in these courses.  Students may enroll in 2-3 hours of credit for these courses.  
 
The purpose of these two-semester year-long supervised research courses is to provide students with a first-hand experience working as part of a research team as well as to help them develop a working knowledge of the theory and applications of trans-disciplinary research used to guide the specific research program. Students will:
·         Be provided with an overview of the Research Program issues;
·         Develop oral and written communication skills; data management skills; team building skills; critical thinking skills; and professional work environment skills;
·         Be trained in mixed methods relevant to factors that contribute to child and family health;
·         Identify opportunities and barriers in transdisciplinary team work;
·         Prepare a scientific presentation that reflects the students’ knowledge of transdisciplinary science gained through working on one of the program subprojects. The presentation will be given at a scientific conference held in the Spring 2014.
 
Additional information about these research courses, as well as a downloadable application can be found on our website at:  http://go.illinois.edu/frcstudents and is attached to this email.   Flyers for posting are also attached.
 
Please contact: Jen Themanson, Coordinator, 217-244-5119 or jthemans@illinois.edu  if you have any questions.
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