VIGRE Graduate Student Opportunities

Introduction

This page details aspects of the VIGRE program specific to graduate students both in the Department of Mathematics and the Program in Applied Mathematics. See the main VIGRE page for a general overview of the VIGRE program. Please contact the VIGRE director or an appropriate member of the management team if you have any questions.

Goals of VIGRE support

The overall goal of VIGRE support is to give students opportunities to do mathematics, communicate their results, broaden and deepen their training, and increase their professionalism as mathematical scientists. All requests for VIGRE support should be made with these goals in mind.

Types of VIGRE support

• First-year fellowships: A limited number of VIGRE fellowships will be awarded to first-year graduate students as a recruiting incentive. All eligible prospective students will be considered and no special application is required.
• First-summer fellowships: First-year graduate students who have successfully completed the three core courses of their program and who intend to attempt all three parts of the qualifying exam the following August are eligible for up to two months of summer support to stay in Tucson and study for the qualifying exams.
• Fellowships: This is the main component of VIGRE graduate support. Students may apply for up to two semesters and up to one adjacent summer of support. (E.g., Fall '04, Spring '05, Summer 05; or Summer '04, Fall '04.) During their graduate career, students may be supported for up to 33 months. (One semester counts as 4.5 months.) Rates of pay are equal to those of TAs. Fellowships are awarded via a competitive, proposal-based application process. (Please refer to the detailed fellowship application procedures for more information.) It is essential that a student's application make clear how VIGRE support will advance his or her intellectual goals and contribute to his or her professional training. Professional development activities play an important role. A report is required after each semester or summer of support.
• Travel: VIGRE supports graduate student travel to conferences, poster sessions, and other professional meetings. See the travel support application procedures for more details.

Note that all VIGRE support is restricted to U.S. citizens, nationals, and permanent residents.

Professional Development Activities

VIGRE fellows are expected to complement their mathematical training with professional development activities that enhance their communication, teaching, and mentoring skills. Here are some of the possibilities:

• Serve as a senior graduate student in the Integration Workshop
• Supervise summer study sessions for the qualifying examinations
• Participation in a Research Tutorial Group
• Work as a super-TA in a graduate course or an upper division undergraduate course.
• Mentor undergraduates participating in the VIGRE summer program
• Mentor teams of undergraduates enrolled in the Mathematical Modeling course (MATH 485)
• Participation in an undergraduate research (URA) project
• Organize or participate in the High School Calculus Class Visitation Project
• Organize and participate in a High School Workshop project

This list is not exhaustive and students with other ideas are encouraged to discuss them with the VIGRE management team.

Reports

It is essential that VIGRE-related efforts be documented. VIGRE graduate-student fellows must report on their activities and progress within 30 days of the end of each semester or summer of VIGRE support. (See the fellowship application page for required elements of the report.) Reports will be posted on the department's internal (intranet) web site. Students who fail to submit required reports will be ineligible for any further VIGRE support.