| NSF Org: |
DMS Division Of Mathematical Sciences |
| Recipient: |
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| Initial Amendment Date: | March 5, 2014 |
| Latest Amendment Date: | May 15, 2018 |
| Award Number: | 1345032 |
| Award Instrument: | Continuing Grant |
| Program Manager: |
Swatee Naik
snaik@nsf.gov (703)292-4876 DMS Division Of Mathematical Sciences MPS Directorate for Mathematical and Physical Sciences |
| Start Date: | March 1, 2014 |
| End Date: | February 28, 2021 (Estimated) |
| Total Intended Award Amount: | $1,199,999.00 |
| Total Awarded Amount to Date: | $1,199,999.00 |
| Funds Obligated to Date: |
FY 2017 = $246,282.00 FY 2018 = $259,334.00 |
| History of Investigator: |
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| Recipient Sponsored Research Office: |
506 S WRIGHT ST URBANA IL US 61801-3620 (217)333-2187 |
| Sponsor Congressional District: |
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| Primary Place of Performance: |
IL US 61801-2975 |
| Primary Place of
Performance Congressional District: |
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| Unique Entity Identifier (UEI): |
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| Parent UEI: |
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| NSF Program(s): | WORKFORCE IN THE MATHEMAT SCI |
| Primary Program Source: |
01001718DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT 01001819DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT |
| Program Reference Code(s): |
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| Program Element Code(s): |
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| Award Agency Code: | 4900 |
| Fund Agency Code: | 4900 |
| Assistance Listing Number(s): | 47.049 |
ABSTRACT
The Program for Interdisciplinary and Industrial Internships at Illinois is a multi-year mathematics graduate training program designed to bring students through three critical transition points: the transition from undergraduate to graduate studies; the transition from working on ``canned'' problems to tackling open-ended problems and even formulating the problems themselves; and the transition from pure ``problem solving'' to doing research on a real-world mathematical, scientific or engineering challenge. The program consists of summer mini-courses; graduate level research seminars; group problem sessions; mini-workshops; networking events that include other scientific departments, government research laboratories, and local technology industry partners; and internships in industry or in academic research laboratories. Research topics include the foundations of information processing in the brain, geometric underpinnings of big data algorithms, and the differential geometry of nonlinear control. The entities that will partner with the Department of Mathematics in this activity include the University of Illinois Institute of Genomic Biology, School of Cellular and Molecular Biology, Coordinated Sciences Laboratory, Beckman Institute, the AXIS Research Center, Sandia National Laboratories, and Wolfram Research.
Long-term systemic trends in the mathematical sciences include a steady increase in numbers of PhDs produced concurrent with a steady decrease in academic tenure-track openings. These trends demand bold steps. The project aims at creating alternative educational models for graduate students in mathematical sciences that can address these broad systemic changes in our discipline. This project will impact over 125 U.S. graduate students in the mathematical sciences over a 5-year period.
PROJECT OUTCOMES REPORT
Disclaimer
This Project Outcomes Report for the General Public is displayed verbatim as submitted by the Principal Investigator (PI) for this award. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this Report are those of the PI and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation; NSF has not approved or endorsed its content.
It has long been recognized that there is a shortage of permanent academic positions for recent PhDs in many fields, mathematics included. At the same time, there has been a significant growth in non-academic career pathways for mathematicians. While the resolution to these challenges is clear (the discipline of mathematics should retool its PhD training to prepare recent PhDs for a more diverse array of careers), the discipline has been slow to react to these changes. Our main goal was, in the abstract, to demonstrate that non-academic careers are viable, and, in the concrete, to give our own PhD students the tools they need now so that they have the opportunities to pursue these non-academic careers.
In light of these challenges and opportunities, the PI4 program has exposed mathematics PhD students at Illinois to, and prepared the interested ones for, a broad range of careers; and developed a cadre of employers who have experienced the value of hiring a mathematics student.
Intellectual Merit: The internships have increased the capacity of the participating students to conduct and exploit interdisciplinary and industrial research. The hosts have included government facilities such as Sandia National Laboratories, mid-sized companies such as Wolfram Research, large corporations such as Ameren and Dow AgroSciences, and small high-tech startups such as Personify.
Broader Impacts: The summer bootcamp has taught students to program in Python and has trained them in data science skills using the statistical programming language R. The program has trained about 120 US students, including 42 women and 39 underrepresented minority students. About 75 of these students have worked in teams to solve open-ended problems under the supervision of faculty members, and about 45 students have interned at companies or government laboratories, or in science or engineering labs at the University of Illinois. Some of the team projects generated publishable academic findings. Many internships resulted in potential benefits to the Nation?s economy and well-being, in manufacturing, agriculture, medicine, communication, transportation, health, cybersecurity, and data analytics.
Besides impact on students' career prospects and on the success of participating companies, the PI4 program has become a template and a benchmark for similar programs across the nation.
Last Modified: 06/29/2021
Modified by: Yuliy Baryshnikov
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