The BU Directed Reading Program (DRP) is a program that pairs undergraduate students with graduate student mentors to work together on an independent reading project in mathematics, applied mathematics, or statistics.<\/p>\n
Our goal is to engage undergraduates who are curious and motivated to learn more about mathematics beyond what they may find in their coursework, in a way where their interests drive their learning experience. We hope the DRP will serve as a bridge between undergraduate students and graduate students and add to a sense of community in the department.<\/p>\n
For folks interested in participating in the DRP in the next application cycle (Fall 2026), please feel free to fill out this interest form: https:\/\/forms.gle\/n4qXP7BqaiVbu3nV6<\/a>. We’ll make sure to get in touch with you when the Fall 2026 applications are open.<\/i><\/div>\n The project lasts for ten weeks, and the mentor\/mentee pairs will meet for an hour each week to discuss the week’s readings. Undergraduate student mentees are expected to commit to at least four hours of work outside of the meetings independently reading and working through the text. Each student will also give a short final presentation, which the mentor\/mentee pair will work on preparing together.<\/p>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/span><\/p>\n Applicants must be BU undergraduates who have completed most of the lower division mathematics courses. Students do not have to be math majors, and we strive to admit students from a range of years and mathematical backgrounds. We are actively seeking students with diverse backgrounds and experiences in mathematics: in addition to students who are excelling or want to take their mathematical knowledge beyond what is offered at BU, we would be excited to see applications from students who have not taken many high level courses, and from students who may struggle with a traditional classroom format. We also especially encourage applications from women, LGBTQ students, and other historically excluded groups. If you are curious about mathematics and motivated to spend at least five hours a week on an independent reading project, then consider applying.<\/p>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/span><\/p>\n Here are some sample presentations from past BU DRPs: learn how persistent homology<\/a> lets you interpret data with topology, how to win mathematical games with combinatorial game theory<\/a>, or how network analysis<\/a> can be applied to analyzing social group dynamics.<\/p>\n Or, get excited by browsing example projects<\/a> from other DRPs or checking out these book suggestions<\/a>.<\/p>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/span><\/p>\n The BU DRP in the 2024-2025 academic year will be organized by<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>Kate Finnerty<\/a><\/span>,<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>Alanna Haslam-Hyde<\/a>,<\/span>\u00a0and<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>Ben Krewson<\/a>, with faculty advisor<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>Margaret Beck<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n We are grateful for funding from the BU Mathematics and Statistics Department.<\/p>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The BU Directed Reading Program (DRP) is a program that pairs undergraduate students with graduate student mentors to work together on an independent reading project in mathematics, applied mathematics, or statistics. Our goal is to engage undergraduates who are curious and motivated to learn more about mathematics beyond what they may find in their coursework, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12962,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":37,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/math\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/8565"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/math\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/math\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/math\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12962"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/math\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8565"}],"version-history":[{"count":22,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/math\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/8565\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11954,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/math\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/8565\/revisions\/11954"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/math\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8565"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Practical Information<\/h3>
Application Requirements<\/h3>
Resources<\/h3>
About Us\/Contact<\/h3>