MSRI-UP

The MSRI Undergraduate Program (MSRI--UP) is an award-winning comprehensive summer program designed for undergraduate students who have completed two years of university-level mathematics courses and would like to conduct research in the mathematical sciences.

The main objective of the MSRI-UP is to identify talented students, especially those from underrepresented groups (including women and gender-expansive individuals), who are interested in mathematics and make available to them meaningful research opportunities, the necessary skills and knowledge to participate in successful collaborations, and a community of academic peers and mentors who can advise, encourage and support them through a successful graduate program.

Please help us to spread the word about this opportunity to your undergraduate contacts: 

Download MSRI-UP 2023 Program Flyer (PDF)

Research Theme

The theme of the 2023 MSRI-UP is “Topological Data Analysis" and the research leader is Dr. Jose Perea, Associate Professor in the Department of Mathematics and the Khoury College of Computer Sciences at Northeastern University. 

Topology is the branch of mathematics concerned with the study of abstract shapes. For most of its history it has been a purely theoretical discipline, but this has changed over the last couple of decades. Recently, topology has shown to be a powerful framework to tackle problems in data science, machine learning and engineering. The research program of the 2023 MSRI-UP on Topological Data Analysis will focus on how ideas from classic algebraic topology - like (co)homology and other descriptors - can be used in machine learning tasks such as dimensionality reduction, time series analysis and data alignment. Participants will contribute to research projects ranging from the needed mathematical foundations, to their algorithmic implementation, and subsequent application to specific scientific domains.

Students who have had a linear algebra course and a course in which they have had to write proofs are eligible to apply. 

Familiarity with Python/Jupyter Notebooks,  statistics or the topology of metric spaces will be helpful.

General Description

During the summer, each of the 18 student participants will:

• participate in the mathematics research program under the direction of Dr. Jose Perea of Northeastern University, a post-doc and two graduate students;
• complete a research project done in collaboration with other MSRI-UP students;
• give a presentation and write a technical report on his/her research project;
• attend a series of colloquium talks given by leading researches in their fields;
• attend workshops aimed at developing skills and techniques needed for research careers in the mathematical sciences;
• learn techniques that will maximize a student's likelihood of admissions to graduate programs as well as the likelihood of winning fellowships; and
• receive a $3600 stipend, lodging, meals and round trip travel to Berkeley, CA.

After the summer, each student will:

• have an opportunity to attend a national mathematics or science conference where students will present their research;
• be part of a network of mentors that will provide continuous advice in the long term as the student makes progress in his/her studies; and
• be contacted regarding future research opportunities.

How to Apply

Applications for MSRI-UP are hosted on the National Science Foundation's Education and Training Application site. See the "Overview" tab of this webpage for details.

Applications are now closed for MSRI-UP 2023.
For future application timelines, visit slmath.org/msri-up. 

Eligibility

Due to funding restrictions, only U.S. citizens and permanent residents are eligible to apply. Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) students are also eligible due to generous funding by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. The program cannot accept foreign students regardless of funding. In addition, students who have already graduated or will have graduated with a bachelor's degree by August 31, 2023 are not eligible to apply. 

MSRI-UP 2023 Directors

The directors of MSRI-UP are:

• Dr. Federico Ardila - federico@sfsu.edu
• Dr. Mercedes Franco - mfranco@qcc.cuny.edu - 2023 on-site director
• Dr. Rebecca Garcia - rgarcia@shsu.edu
• Dr. Candice Price - cprice@smith.edu
• Dr. Robin Wilson - robinwilson@cpp.edu

MSRI-UP 2023 Leaders

Dr. Maria Mercedes Franco (2023 Onsite Director) is Associate Professor and Chair of Mathematics and Computer Science at Queensborough Community College –The City University of New York. She has a Ph.D. in Applied Mathematics from Cornell University. She also holds a M.S. in Applied Mathematics from Cornell University and a B.S. in Mathematics from Universidad del Valle (Cali, Colombia). Dr. Franco is a very committed educator, who for nearly 30 years has taught college and high school students at institutions in Colombia, Puerto Rico, and the United States. From giving lectures to organizing workshops to collaborating in undergraduate research programs, Dr. Franco is actively involved in activities that seek to increase the number of women and minorities in STEM disciplines, increase public understanding of and appreciation for mathematics & STEM, and address issues relevant to social justice. Dr. Franco holds several leadership and advisory roles in national programs. She is co-PI and co-Director of MSRI-UP at the SLMath (formerly MSRI) and co-PI and co-Director of the NSF-funded Center for Undergraduate Research in Mathematics (CURM), as well as a member of the Mathematics Advisory Group for Transforming Post-Secondary Education in Mathematics (TPSE Math). (View full bio)

Dr. Jose Perea (2023 Research Leader) is Associate Professor of Mathematics and Computer Sciences at Northeastern University. He has a Ph.D. in Mathematics from Stanford University in 2011, and a B.Sc. in Mathematics from Universidad del Valle (Summa cum laude and Valedictorian) in 2006. He was a postdoc in the department of Mathematics at Duke University from 2011 to 2015, and a long term visitor of the Institute for Mathematics and its Applications (IMA) at the University of Minnesota during the Fall of 2014. In August of 2015 he joined Michigan State University as an Assistant Professor with joint appointments in the department of Computational Mathematics, Science & Engineering (CMSE), and the department of Mathematics, and in Fall of 2021 he joined Northeastern University in his current role. His work has been supported by grants from DARPA, the U.S. National Science Foundation, the Center for Business and Social Analytics, and is a recipient of the NSF CAREER award.

MSRI-UP 2023 Postdoc & Graduate Assistants

Dr. Ana Wright (Postdoctoral Fellow) earned a Ph.D. in Mathematics at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Wright is now Assistant Professor at Davidson College. Wright's research interests are in low dimensional topology, specifically knot theory. (View full bio)

Sofia Martinez (Graduate Assistant) is a Ph.D. student at Purdue University where she studies algebraic topology. (View full bio)

Ilani Axelrod-Freed (Graduate Assistant) is a graduate student at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology studying combinatorics.

MSRI-UP Sponsors

Funding to support MSRI-UP is provided by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation and the National Science Foundation (NSF).