Applied Mathematics

Academic & Research Opportunities

Academic Opportunities in APMA

  • Senior Seminars - The Division usually offers at least two senior seminars with varying topics each year (193X and 194X series, such as APMA 1941D). Please check Courses@Brown for current information on the senior seminars being offered.
  • Independent Study - Independent studies (APMA 1970) offer the opportunity to study specific topics or areas that are not represented in our course offerings. These are scheduled with individual sponsoring faculty members, who develop a syllabus and forms of assessment with the student and advise them over the course of the semester. Your concentration advisor can help with identifying potential faculty sponsors if you need help or advice.
  • Honors - Each of the APMA-related concentrations allow exceptional students to pursue honors. Honors requirements and guidelines can be found on the Honors page.
  • Directed Reading Program - The Directed Reading Program (DRP) is a one-on-one mathematics mentoring program that allows undergraduates to work on semester-long independent reading projects under the guidance of graduate students. The first DRP was founded by two graduate students at the University of Chicago in 2003 and has now spread to over a dozen institutions across the United States. Visit the Directed Reading Program page for more information.

Research Opportunities at Brown and Beyond

  • Research with APMA Faculty - Many of our faculty are interested in working with undergraduates during the summer. If you would like to participate in these opportunities, please contact individual faculty (ideally in late fall) to inquire about who would be interested in working with you on a research project. Your concentration advisor can help with identifying potential faculty sponsors.
  • Research with non-APMA Faculty - You may also search for opportunities outside of applied math, including biostatistics, computer science, economics, engineering, CLPS, neuroscience, CCMB, biology, etc. There are a lot of labs outside of applied math that could really use people with good math/computing skills. In fact, there tends to be a lot more opportunities for undergrad math/computer research outside of applied math than inside of it. The College's page on Undergraduate Research and Teaching Awards (UTRAs) contains a list of faculty-offered opportunities for the upcoming summer.
  • Summer@ICERM - the Summer@ICERM program is an eight-week residential program designed for a select group of 18-22 undergraduate scholars. Every year, faculty organizers develop a variety of topical research projects that are interdisciplinary in nature. They begin the program with brief introductory talks about each project. Throughout the eight-week program, students work on their assigned projects in groups of two-to-four, mentored by faculty advisors and teaching assistants. Students meet daily, give regular talks about their findings, attend mini-courses and guest talks, and participate in professional development seminars. Visit the Summer@ICERM page for more details on upcoming programming.
  • REUs - Many universities across the US offer REUs (Research Experiences for Undergraduates) during the summer. The National Science Foundation and the American Mathematical Society maintain lists of REUs that are updated regularly.

Brown provides support for summer research through SPRINT awards.

Internships

Many companies and national labs offer internship opportunities for undergraduate students: please visit SIAM's list of internship and job opportunities.

Brown also runs the Summer Research Early Identification Program (SR-EIP), which finds internships for rising sophomores, juniors, and seniors who plan to pursue a Ph.D. in the biomedical and physical sciences, engineering, social sciences, or humanities. Sponsored by the Leadership Alliance, a consortium of 31 institutions of higher education, SR-EIP allows students to work for eight to ten weeks under the guidance of a faculty or research mentor at a participating Alliance institution.