REU Site in Discrete Mathematics and Algebra

During the summer of 2012, the Department of Mathematics of Texas State University will be hosting students working on research projects in Discrete Mathematics and Algebra. The students will be involved in an REU Site supported by the National Science Foundation and Texas State University. The students will work in small groups on the projects described below. Applications are currently being accepted from interested undergraduates. Any undergraduate student who is a U.S. citizen or permanent resident, who will continue to be enrolled as an undergraduate student in the fall of 2012, and who has successfully completed at least one semester of Discrete Mathematics and/or Abstract Algebra, is encouraged to apply. International students at U.S. undergraduate institutions may apply, but are not eligible for funding due to NSF restrictions. Nine students will be selected to this REU program. The application deadline is March 1, 2012. 

The Program

The program will start with presentations by the faculty of the topics and problems followed by the formation of the core groups based on the students’ interests. The first two weeks consists mainly of studying the background material necessary to begin work on the problems. By the end of the second week all students will be engaged in original research under close supervision of a faculty member. The students will continue to work in small groups on the research topics throughout the summer. The faculty will meet with the students daily to provide guidance. In addition, there will be presentation days once a week where each group will share the results of their research with the other participants. Mid-way through the program, the students will be required to write a formal report of their preliminary results in a format that can later be extended to a paper. The outcome of the final report will be in the format of a paper. The students will prepare formal presentations to be presented to the REU participants and any interested faculty or students from the University. Some of the papers will form the basis of work to be published, but additional work might be needed before the papers are submitted to journals. During the following year, each student will be encouraged to make a presentation at a conference.

Project Descriptions

	Dr. Jian Shen Graph Theory and Additive Number Theory: The Chudnovsky-Seymour-Sullivan Conjecture on Cycles in Triangle-free Digraphs
	Dr. Xinde Jia Graph Theory: Extremal Cayley Graphs
	Dr. Thomas Keller Group Theory: Graphs Related to Element Orders of Finite Groups

 Program Details:

Other Information

Note: This section will be updated with answers to questions as they come in.

• There will be optional social activities most of the weekends. Some of these activities will be joint with students from other mathematics summer programs and/or students from another REU program hosted in the Computer Science Department.
• San Marcos is a scenic town located between Austin and San Antonio. There is a lovely spring-fed river running through town where swimming, tubing, and other water activities are available. San Antonio is famous for the Alamo and the River Walk. It also has a Sea World, a water park and an excellent Zoo. Austin is known for its live music. All types of music can usually be found.
• We anticipate accepting nine students into the program this summer.
• Students should expect to work full-time on research during the eight weeks of the program. For example, a student should not expect to take a summer course or work at an outside job during the program.
• The travel money will first be used to defray the cost of traveling to and from the program. The remaining money will be used to assist students in attending conferences, with priority given to students who will present a talk at the conference on the research done during the program.
• We would be happy to answer any other questions you might have. Just send a note to Dr. Jian Shen.
• Texas State University is an equal opportunity employer. Students from traditionally underrepresented groups are especially encouraged to apply.
• Official TxState Disclaimer 

 Contact Information