NU-UI Mathematics Summer REU Program
June 5 - July 26, 2017

REU FINAL PRESENTATIONS: Tuesday, July 26, 2 pm - 3 pm, 345 Altgeld Hall

Final Presentation Schedule:

• 2:00 - 2:30 pm: Xinying Fang, John Haug, Sara Rat, Ruoyu Zhu:
  "The Mathematics of Poker: Skill vs. Luck"
• 2:30 - 3:00 pm: Sultan Muratov, Blandon Su, Fan Wu:
  "The Mathematics of Poker: Adaptive Strategies"

About this program

Program participants will be working on research projects at the interface of mathematics and economics. The program also features a mini-course, a Mathematica bootcamp, GRE prep sessions, and a variety of career workshops. These activities are open to all UI students subject to space availability. There is no cost involved; interested students can sign up at http://go.illinois.edu/mathreu-signup.

Weekly Schedule

Activities open to all UI students

• Career Workshop Series, Tuesdays/Thursdays, 4 pm - 5 pm, 345 Altgeld Hall.
  A series of workshops covering topics such as applying for graduate school, and writing resumes, cv's, and personal statements. Sign-up required for those who are not official REU participants.
  • Applying to Graduate School: Tips, Advice and Resources" (A.J. Hildebrand). Thursday, June 29, 4 pm - 5 pm, 345 Altgeld Hall
  • Resume Workshop (Amanda Cox, Career Center). Thursday, July 6, 4 pm - 5 pm, 345 Altgeld Hall
  • CV and Personal Statement Workshop (A.J. Hildebrand). Tuesday, July 11, 4 pm - 5 pm, 345 Altgeld Hall
  • Graduate School Information Session (Richard Laugesen, Director of Graduate Studies, Department of Mathematics). Thursday, July 13, 4 pm - 5 pm, 345 Altgeld Hall
• Mini-Course: Introduction to Random Walks, Tuesdays/Thursdays, 2 pm - 3:30 pm, 345 Altgeld Hall, June 13 - mid July.
  Random walks arise in a wide variety of real-life situations: The ups and downs of a stock market, the progression of scores in a basketball game, and the tallying of votes in an election, can all be modeled by appropriate random walks. This course will provide an elementary introduction to random walks and some of their many applications. The prerequisite is an undergraduate course in probability or statistics such as Math 461 or Stat 400/Math 463.
  Open to all UI students. Sign-up required for those who are not official REU participants.
• Mathematica Bootcamp, Mondays/Wednesdays/Fridays, 2 pm - 4 pm, 239 Altgeld Hall, June 12 - 25.
  A series of workshops, aimed both at novices to Mathematica and at those with prior experience with Mathematica. The workshops will provide a solid general foundation in Mathematica, with particular focus on developing good coding kills and avoiding common mistakes and pitfalls, as well as in-depth knowledge of selected topics such as random simulations and interactive visualization.
  Open to a small number of additional UI students. Sign-up required for those who are not official REU participants.
• GRE Workshop, Tuesdays/Thursdays, 4 pm - 5 pm, 345 Altgeld Hall, June 13 - 22.
  Four sessions providing an overview of the General GRE test, sample questions, and tips and advice on preparing for the test. The sessions will be led by Ashish Pandey, a fourth-year graduate student in mathematics.
  Open to all UI students subject to space availability. Sign-up required for those who are not official REU participants.

Links and Resources

• Interactive Campus Map
• University of Illinois Weather Page (with live radar picture)
• Mathematics Department Web Page
• Champaign-Urbana (MTD) bus schedule.
• Personal Safety Tips
• McKinley Health Center
• Illini Union
• Illini Union Bookstore
• Illini Union Techzone (Computer Store)
• University Computer Labs (locations and hours)
• Campus Recreation (Fitness Centers)

Contacts

• Prof. Richard Laugesen, REU Program Administrator, 259 Altgeld Hall, laugesen@illinois.edu.
• Prof. A.J. Hildebrand, REU Program Director, 13 Illini Hall, ajh@illinois.edu