SYSM 681
Research Exploration
Virginia Commonwealth University
Spring 2022
  F 3:00-3:50,  Harris Hall 4155
SYLLABUS

INSTRUCTOR:
  Richard Hammack Office: Harris Hall 4166
  E-mail: rhammack@vcu.edu
Office hours:
  Phone: (804) 828-6237 (Note: VCU does not provide voicemail) Tuesday 3:30-4:45 pm
  Web page: www.people.vcu.edu/~rhammack/
Course web page: www.people.vcu.edu/~rhammack/SYSM681/SYSM681.html 		Thursday 10:00-11:15 am
and by appointment.
PREREQUISITES:  Graduate standing in Mathematical Sciences or Systems Modeling and Analysis
TEXT: None

This course is intended to introduce you to the research being done by VCU MATH and SSOR professors, and to help you with deciding on a PhD research advisor. Each week a faculty member will give a brief talk on their research. A typical talk will be about 40 minutes, with an additional 10 minutes or so for questions. (See the schedule below.) Some talks will be in person, and others via Zoom. You are expected to attend all talks.

Speaker Schedule

Date Speaker
Title
 Modality
January 21 Prof. Richard Hammack
 Introduction to SYSM 681, and  Graph Products
 In-person, 3:00-3:50
January 28 Prof. Rebecca Segal
 Numerical Solution of Biologically-Based Differential Equations In-person, 3:00-3:50
February 4 Free day: No class

February 11 Prof. Ed Boone
 Data Science at the research frontier: Covid-19, Fish Movement, Fractional Differential Equations, Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning and Toxicology In-person, 3:00-3:50
February 18 Prof. Allison Moore
 The twisted and tangled world of knot theory Via Zoom, 3:00-3:50
February 25 Prof. Marco Aldi
 Quantum Computing and Discrete Mathematics Via Zoom, 3:00-3:50
March 4 Prof. Nicola Tarasca
 The many wonders of Schubert varieties Via Zoom, 3:00-3:50
March 18 Prof. Craig Larson
 Computationally Hard Problems - and What is Important in Mathematics In-person, 3:00-3:50
March 25 Prof. David Chan Cortisol, Barrier Islands, and VIOLINS In-person, 3:00-3:50
April 1 Prof. Glenn Hurlbert Graph pebbling In-person, 3:00-3:50
April 8 Prof. David Edwards
 Design and Analysis of Screening Experiments
 In-person, 3:00-3:50
April 15 Prof. Neal Bushaw Forbidding Rainbow Subgraphs In-person, 3:00-3:50
April 22 Prof. Ya Su Bayesian large scale computational models
 In-person, 3:00-3:50
April 29 Prof. Ghidewon Abay-Asmerom
 Graph Distances on the Ge’ez Writing System Characters
 Via Zoom, 3:00-3:50

I will use the 10-point scale for grades:
A: 90-100
B: 80-89
C: 70-79
D: 60-69
F: below 60

Your grade will be weighted as follows.

Percentage Assignment
35% Attendance/Engagement. You are expected to be present each week. Although it is understood that you'll find some talks more interesting than others, you are expected to be engaged listen attentively to all talks, and ask questions when the topic is particularly interesting to you. Please avoid having your laptop or phone out during in-class presentations. Please have your video on during Zoom talks.
35% Weekly Reports. Write a brief report (one or two paragraphs) summarizing each talk. If you are particularly interested in a topic the report can be longer. In such a case consider visiting the professor for followup questions. Please typeset your report appropriately (LaTeX is preferred). Please give me a hard copy no later than a week after the talk. Early submissions are appreciated (put them in my mail room mailbox).
30% Faculty Visit Reports. During the semester you should schedule several visits with professors to ask further questions about their research. For each visit write a brief (several paragraphs) report about your findings. You are expected to write at least two such reports. Give me a hard copy of the report in class or put it in my mailbox.