Graduate Student Support Under the VIGRE Program
- to decrease the time towards the Ph.D.;
- to broaden the mathematics experience of our students so that the they have a wider spectrum of job opportunities, and in some cases, contacts with prospective employers.
- to enhance teaching experience, so that those students who choose to do so can present themselves as experts in mathematics pedagogy, as well as in their field of research.
- to increase the representation of minority students and women.
Summer support
All Ph.D. students in good standing, fulfilling the conditions of the program, and already engaged in research, would be invited to submit a summer research proposal under faculty supervision. Winners will receive a two month summer stipend of $3,000. They will also be able to apply for support to travel to conferences: we have budgeted $1,000 per graduate student for this purpose.
We expect to support 6 students in this way each year.
Year long support
Students in their first, second or third year can apply to become VIGRE
predoctoral fellows for an entire year. They will be relieved of their
teaching duties that year and instead devote the extra time to research
in core mathematics or be interns in either the Mathematics Education program
at Teachers College, industry, or another department in the university.
For example, core mathematics students might choose to devote more time
to research; mathematical physics students might use the extra time they
have to work in the Physics department; the probability students might
choose an internship in industry or work in the Statistics department.
Those students who opt for the Pedagogy program will formally enroll in
Math Education courses at Teachers College, andwill also participate in
some of the practicum. We would encourage these students to select this
course in their first year of training. As far as classroom teaching experience
they would then be "fast-tracked": in the following year they will be assistants
to an experienced teacher, and the year after they will begin teaching
their own class. We would expect them to continue to have contact with
the Math Education Program.
Dissertation writing support
More advanced students (at the dissertation writing stage) could apply
for 1-semester plus summer support, which would relieve them of teaching
assistant duties that semester and provide summer support.