Summer REU Program
Lafayette's REU program is an intensive eight-week summer research experience where students from around the country interact with faculty to explore cutting-edge mathematics problems.
The Lafayette College mathematics department has often hosted an REU Site during the summer months. The most recent hosting was in the summer of 2024. Through close mentorship with their faculty advisors, small student research groups will investigate open problems in mathematics and statistics and share their work in the form of articles, posters, and group presentations. Our most recent program ran from June 3 to July 26, 2024. The students who participated this past summer will be participating in the Joint Mathematics Meetings in Seattle, WA (January 8-11, 2025). Maybe you’ll see us there! This site is funded by NSF grant number DMS-2150343.
The three research areas for Summer 2024 were Financial Mathematics and VIX, Optimal Transport and Monge-Ampere Equations, and Algebraically Defined Edge-Colored Graphs. This past year’s mentors were Professors Qin Lu (with Jeffrey Liebner), Farhan Abedin (with Jun Kitagawa from Michigan State University), and the team of Karen McCready (from King’s College) and Brian Kronenthal (from Kutztown University). Note that we will not be hosting a site for summer 2025.
The REU is coordinated by the Mathematics Department of Lafayette College, which is located in Easton, Pennsylvania, less than 90 minutes from both New York and Philadelphia. In the past, participants received a 9-week stipend of $5400, free housing and a flex spending account during the summer, and support for conference travel and expenses. Participants are expected to continue their undergraduate education after the summer is over, and NSF regulations require that only U.S. citizens and permanent residents are eligible to receive stipends. First-generation college students and students from underrepresented groups or institutions without a strong undergraduate research program are particularly encouraged to apply.
Lafayette’s REU program has a long history of supporting successful undergraduate research. Most students who have
participated in the program have published papers in professional journals. Many students have also been inspired by their experience to pursue graduate degrees in the mathematical sciences. In addition to mathematical and statistical research, our REU is committed to mentoring students as they prepare for life after the undergraduate experience. But the Lafayette REU is more than just about math. It’s about finding one’s talents, exploring one’s potential, creating friendships, and generally having fun. The photo above features the 2022 REU group posing with mentors Qin Lu and Trent Gaugler outside Reeder House, where all the REU students dormed together. The photo on the right shows the 2018 REU group and mentors posing with their Lafayette T-shirts at the end of the summer. The photo below showcases the 2023 REU group outside of Pardee Hall, the main academic building on campus and home to the summer research environment, along with mentors Allie Lewis, Jeff Liebner, Ethan Berkove, Carl Hammarstein, and Qin Lu.
More pictures from previous REUs can be found here.
If you have questions about the Lafayette College REU, please contact the program coordinators, Professors Jeffrey Liebner and Qin Lu at mathreu@lafayette.edu. Again, note that we will not be hosting an REU Site for summer 2025. If you want to get the feel of what our sites are traditionally like, check out this 100% accurate description of the program.