UTRGV professors awarded NSF grant to offer Research Experiences for Undergraduates program
From left to right: Dr. Erwin Suazo, PI and Associate Professor of Mathematical and Statistical Sciences, Dr. Tamer Oraby, SMSS Associate Professor and Co-PI, Dr. Hansapani Rodrigo SMSS Assistant Professor and NSF REU mentor, and Dr. Josef Sifuentes SMSS Assistant Professor and Mentor.
By Maria Gonzalez
RIO GRANDE VALLEY, TEXAS – The National Science Foundation (NSF) awarded a $324,072 grant for a Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) program in the School of Mathematics and Statistical Sciences (SMSS).
The – “REU Site: The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley REU Program on Applied Mathematics and Computational and Data Science” – is the first NSF REU program for the School of Mathematical and Statistical Sciences at UTRGV.
Dr. Erwin Suazo, Associate Professor in the School of Mathematical and Statistical Sciences, is the principal investigator on the project; Dr. Tamer Oraby, Undergraduate Program Coordinator for B.S in Statistics and Associate Professor in the SMSS is the co-PI.
“The program will provide undergraduate students with vigorous, motivating and above all quality collaborative research experience in the areas of stochastic and deterministic partial differential equations and numerical analysis with an emphasis on the computational aspects,” Suazo said. “Additionally, students will develop and/or apply deep spatial learning algorithms to spatial processes resulting from partial differential equations,” he said.
The REU program will allow UTRGV to host undergraduate students from across the United States to conduct collaborative research programs each summer from 2022 – 2025. During the program, the students will work under the guidance of faculty mentors from the school of Mathematical and Statistical Sciences.
“Each year, the NSF REU will recruit and support eight undergraduate students nationally and several of them chosen from the Rio Grande Valley region,” Oraby said. “Great efforts will be made so that most of the students are from underrepresented minorities in STEM, including Hispanics and women,” he said.
The students will work collaboratively in their groups on research projects in applied mathematics, mathematical modeling, and computational and data science.
Dr. Erwin Suazo Assistant Professor in the SMSS and PI of the NSF REU.
“Students will also participate in professional training and technical preparation to represent the university in conferences. The students will write research papers that will acknowledge their affiliation to UTRGV as well as the NSF program.” Oraby said. “The program will be a great opportunity for our students to network with their peers nationwide,” he said.
The program objectives will provide students with invaluable educational and research skills and experiences and better prepare them for graduate programs and careers in STEM.
The first round of REU projects will run from June 13 to August 12, 2022; The review of applications will begin on April 1, 2022.
The project topic areas for summer 2022 include:
- Wave phenomena and mathematical modeling
- Students will study and analyze novel and engaging topics such as the dynamics of scattering waves and the propagation of nonlinear waves in non-uniform media.
- Mentors: Dr. Erwin Suazo and Dr. Josef Sifuentes
- Mathematical modeling of spatial processes and deep spatial learning
- Students will work on simulating spatial processes such as the spread of diseases or emission of pollution, which are modeled using partial differential equations with space-time white or color noise.
- Mentors: Dr. Tamer Oraby and Dr. Hansapani Rodrigo
In addition to unparalleled collaborative research experience, each student participant in the REU program will receive a stipend of $5,400, free on-campus housing, a $900 meal allowance and $1000 for travel expenses, which are incurred in the roundtrip travel to the REU or to present the research work at a conference.
“The center will also offer a Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) program that will afford undergraduate students the opportunity to travel to the three partner institutions and spend 10-weeks performing joint research between UTRGV and its partners,” he said.
Eligibility requirements:
All currently enrolled undergraduate students who are US citizens or permanent residents of the United States are eligible to apply to the UTRGV REU Program. Applicants must be full-time students pursuing a major in the mathematical or statistical sciences in Fall 2022. Applicants from underrepresented groups are especially welcome.
To complete the application, visit the UTRGV REU website. If you have specific questions, please contact Dr. Erwin Suazo at erwin.suazo@utrgv.edu
ABOUT UTRGV
The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) was created by the Texas Legislature in 2013 as the first major public university of the 21st century in Texas. This transformative initiative provided the opportunity to expand educational opportunities in the Rio Grande Valley, including a new School of Medicine, and made it possible for residents of the region to benefit from the Permanent University Fund – a public endowment contributing support to the University of Texas System and other institutions.
UTRGV has campuses and off-campus research and teaching sites throughout the Rio Grande Valley including in Boca Chica Beach, Brownsville (formerly The University of Texas at Brownsville campus), Edinburg (formerly The University of Texas-Pan American campus), Harlingen, McAllen, Port Isabel, Rio Grande City, and South Padre Island. UTRGV, a comprehensive academic institution, enrolled its first class in the fall of 2015, and the School of Medicine welcomed its first class in the summer of 2016.
