Undergraduate Research in Mathematics at Temple University
These grants are meant to support students who will be investigating a topic or problem more deeply than is typically possible in coursework. Students will be expected to sustain engagement with their topic during the academic year under the guidance of a faculty project adviser, who will endorse the project proposal. This engagement may average just a few hours per week. But thriving research projects tend to be too fun to set down at times. As the project develops, you will be given the opportunity to present on the work at an appropriate venue (PUMC, MAA meeting, Math Club, CST URS, etc.). We will also ask for a written summary of the project and your work by the end of the academic year.
There are many accessible topics in mathematics for undergraduates. The proposal does not need to include a roadmap to the kinds of original results that are expected in, say, a doctoral thesis. But also, the project cannot be purely expository in the sense of simply reading about a topic and then repeating what you read. You should plan to at least create some new examples, create a new proof of a known result, create a novel solution to or generalization of a Putnam problem, specialize a known model to a new phenomenon, or similar. Your adviser will help with this part. We want to encourage creative and original work.
Other Sources of Support for Undergraduate Mathematics Research
The College of Science and Technology has an Undergraduate Research Program that supports math research students. Programs include support during the academic year and during the summer. The URP also has a list of projects (including math projects) that are already active and ready for student participation.
The university also supports math students engaged in research. The projects supported by these programs tend to receive that only with clear evidence of the likelihood of some real success.
For further guidance please contact undergraduate director - Dr Datskovsky - or members of the committee supporting undergraduate research in mathematics: Drs Eisenberg, Osborne, and Sivek.