Denison is well known for creating the kind of research opportunities for undergraduate students that are often reserved for graduate students at other institutions. Every summer, a group of Denison mathematics students engage in a variety of research projects, mentored by talented faculty who are active researchers in their areas. These experiences give students opportunities to stretch the limits of knowledge and prepare for their futures in graduate school or industry.

Opportunities For Research

Summer Scholars

The Summer Scholars Program permits students to pursue full-time collaborative work with faculty members for a minimum of ten weeks during the summer.  Students have opportunities to conduct advanced research in cutting-edge fields such as knot theory, quantum information theory, sports analytics, combinatorics, operator theory, graph theory, and dynamical systems.  Students regularly share the results of their summer research projects at regional and national research conferences, often winning awards for their work.  In some cases, summer research has led to work being published in highly respected research journals and conference programs.

Summer Scholars in mathematics are paid stipends and receive free housing for the summer, funded through internal sources such as the Anderson and Bowen Endowments or the Denison University Research Foundation (DURF), or through external grants obtained by faculty from the National Science Foundation

Senior Research

A student may choose to pursue a year-long research project during their senior year in collaboration with, or under the close supervision of, a mathematics faculty member.  This experience gives students opportunities to immerse themselves in a narrowly defined topic for extended period of time.  Senior research requires a major thesis and carries eight semester-hours of credit for the year.  Occasionally, a thesis is subsequently refined and submitted for publication in a research journal.

Independent Studies

An independent or directed study is an opportunity for a student to study, under the supervision of a faculty member, a topic that is not normally covered in the mathematics curriculum.