Mathematics Faculty Student Collaboration

Faculty Student Collaboration

Typically, students gain research experience through Student Seminars course. Topics are chosen several months earlier, and the research is done with faculty guidance. Successful outcome results from a close interaction between the student and the faculty mentor. Students speak on their research findings, and they also produce written reports. Regardless of what career path they choose, all this provides a valuable experience for them. Students with well-prepared proposals can apply for Canisius Earning Excellence Program (CEEP) grant, which provides funding for their research projects. Any of the faculty members can be a supervisor for a CEEP project. In the below are the student research talk titles from year 2015-2016:

  • Shohei Tomiyama, “Classification Theorem for Closed Surfaces”
  • Shannon Shaw, “A Mathematical Twist: An Introduction to Knot Theory”
  • Nicole Sindoni, “The Four Color Theorem”
  • John Sortisio, “Multicollinearity”
  • Dante Simonetta, “Mathematics in Finance”
  • Margy Lin, “Tangency and Optimization Without Limits”
  • Megan Hertel, “The Evolution of Fermat’s Last Theorem”
  • Alicia Wheeler, “Statistics in Bioinformatics”
  • Nasiha Ahmed, “Arrow’s Impossibility Theorem”
  • Michael Fregelette, “Chaotic Behavior and Dynamical Systems”

Often, faculty members give talks on their research work, and the department sometimes invites outside speakers. In this way, the students also get to experience a wide range of research areas in addition to their own project topic. Over the years, many students had occasions to give presentations on their research at regional and national conferences. Among the venues include: Young Mathematicians Conference at Ohio State, the Nebraska Conference for Undergraduate Women in Mathematics, and the meetings of the Seaway Section of the Mathematical Association of America. Students are further encouraged to explore more in-depth research opportunities, by applying for summer REU (Research Experience for Undergraduates) programs hosted by various other institutions. Many of our students have had successful experiences at such REU programs, opening doors for them to a larger world of mathematics research at graduate school level.