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Objectives:
Brown SUMS is intended to be a symposium for undergraduates.
The specific goals of Brown SUMS are:
- To facilitate greater interaction and networking
between students and themselves, and students and faculty
- To provide a practice field for the development
of excellent scientific communication skills
- To erase the myth that mathematics is an arcane
subject closed to most and open to an academically elite few
- To highlight the overall significance of math
in the sciences through its various manifestations as obvious
or un-obvious as they may be
- To demonstrate that a sound undergraduate preparation
in math opens doors to a variety of other subjects
- To prove that math is a universal language of
science
Organization and Sponsorship:
The symposium is being organized by the Brown Mathematics Department
and coordinated by its Departmental Undergraduate Group. In past years, the
Math Department's NSF
VIGRE Grant (PI - David Targan and Joseph Silverman) has provided
most of the funding for Brown SUMS. Since 2007, with the expiration of the VIGRE Grant,
the conference has been funded by other sources. The 2009 conference will
be funded by Brown's Office of the Dean of the College, the Department
of Mathematics, and the Division of Applied Mathematics.
Symposium Structure:
The structure of the conference corresponds to its goals. There
will be a total of five faculty lectures in addition to several undergraduate presentations.
The primary audience for every lecture will be undergraduate
math and science students from Brown and various other universities
in the Northeast. Area high school students and teachers, professors,
and other members of the Brown community will also be invited
to attend the lectures. We expect about 50 people to attend each
of the lectures.
Undergraduates will also be invited to present
talks papers during the allotted time
slot. Proposed talks should be submitted through the registration page.
If your request to present a paper is accepted,
the presentation should not exceed 20 minutes in length. It is
essential that speakers indicate whatever audio/visual lecture
needs they will have at the time of registration so that we can
fully accommodate these needs. The audience of these paper sessions
will be primarily math and science knowledgeable undergraduates
from the targeted science. It is, therefore, a good idea to
be sensitive to the audience's varied backgrounds.
Shortly after you register, we will send you a confirmation email
indicating whether or not we grant your request to present a
paper. We will consider abstract submissions in the order that we receive
them. Since we will accept lectures and posters on a rolling basis, we
encourage potential presenters to submit their abstracts as early as
possible.
Lodging and Transportation:
Getting here and returning from whence you came will be up to
you or your school. You will find driving instructions on the
"Getting Here" page of this site. You might consider
traveling on Amtrak which has a stop in downtown Providence,
about 20 minutes walking distance from Brown. There is also a
Greyhound station and a Bonanza bus stop in Providence, both
just as close to Brown.
You should also note that the banquet dinner, which costs five dollars to
attend, is the only full
meal provided with the Symposium. On Saturday a very light breakfast
will precede the first lecture event. However, Saturday lunch
is up to you. There are many places to eat around Brown, and
we will include a guide in your registration packet that you
will receive when you arrive.
Note that the contact page of this website tells
you who to call should you experience any difficulties.
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