Summer Undergraduate Program in Mathematics Wins New National Science Foundation Support
WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. - The National Science Foundation (NSF) has awarded Williams College a five-year $630,216 grant in support of "SMALL," a summer undergraduate research program in math. The SMALL program also received NSF funding in July 2004.The SMALL projects for 2009 include commutative algebra, geometry (in Granada, Spain), knot theory, number and random matrix theory, and virtual knot theory.
Despite its name, SMALL is one of the largest programs of its kind in the United States. The program offers talented undergraduates a nine-week opportunity to investigate research problems in mathematics. Students work in small groups directed by individual faculty members. Since the program was founded in 1988, over 375 young mathematicians have participated.
Williams College mathematics professors Susan R. Loepp and Cesar E. Silva, who co-direct the program, point to the collaborative environment encouraged by SMALL that enables students to do innovative work.
Many students in the program have gone on to publish papers and present talks at academic conferences, based on their SMALL work. SMALL professor-student collaborations have been published in the Pacific Journal of Mathematics, the Journal of Knot Theory and its Ramifications, and the Transactions of the American Mathematical Society, among others.
Silva's research interests include ergodic theory and measurable dynamics. His research has been published in numerous academic and professional journals. He is the author of "Invitation to Ergodic Theory" (2008). At Williams, Silva teaches Calculus, Real Analysis, and Ergodic Theory. He received his B.S. from the Pontificia Universidad Catolica del Peru and his Ph.D. from the University of Rochester.
Loepp's field of research is commutative algebra. Her research has been published in The Journal of Algebra, The Journal of Pure and Applied Algebra, and Proceedings of the American Mathematical Society, among others. This year, Loepp taught Multivariable Calculus and Protecting Information: Applications of Abstract Algebra and Quantum Physics. Loepp received her B.A. from Bethel College and her Ph.D. in 1994 from the University of Texas at Austin.
