College of Liberal Arts and Sciences
Department of Mathematics
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Research

Jennifer Newman and students sit around a table collaborating with laptops.

The Department of Mathematics offers a variety of different research opportunities and events for both undergraduate and graduate students where you can even receive funding for your work. From weekly colloquia to seminars, including undergraduate research in the college of Liberal Arts and Sciences, opportunities abound to participate alongside our award-winning faculty.

Our annual ISMaRT program brings together research teams that include faculty, graduate students, and undergraduate students. One student’s research used machine learning to solve physics problems, while another’s helped create a data science curriculum for future mathematics teachers. Opportunities such as these await you in the Department of Mathematics.

Faculty research areas

Faculty members in the Department of Mathematics maintain active and well-funded research programs in several focus areas. Expand the research areas below to view faculty in that area.

Undergraduate research opportunities

  • ISMaRT

    The Iowa State Mathematics Research Teams (ISMaRT) program runs every spring semester for ISU undergraduate students Participants work on research projects in a variety of mathematical areas, such as graph theory, numerical analysis, algebra, mathematical biology, probability, or analysis.

    Students work in collaborative teams with 2-4 undergraduate members as part of active research groups throughout the semester. Undergraduates may receive up to 2 credits of Math 490.

  • mathreu

    Math REU

    Participants in the Math REU program spend eight weeks working on research projects coming from a variety of mathematical areas, such as graph theory, numerical analysis, linear algebra, mathematical biology, probability, computational mathematics, logic, and dynamical systems. The topics for any individual summer are determined by the research mentors which primarily come from the Department of Mathematics at Iowa State University (ISU).

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    Weekly Colloquia

    Take part in a weekly colloquium from 4:10 – 5:00pm in 268 Carver with other students. Topics can range from a guest talk on discrete mathematics to deep learning in biology and chemistry.

Seminars

Mathematics faculty hold regular seminars throughout the academic year on a variety of topics ranging from discrete mathematics, logic, mathematical biology and more. These seminars are a great way to both learn new things and meet new people interested in the field of mathematics. Attending a seminar can give you new insight on a topic or spark a completely different interest.

Mathematics seminars at Iowa State University