Directed Reading Program

The Directed Reading Program (DRP) gives undergraduates the opportunity to:

• work one-on-one with a graduate mentor for the semester,
• learn an area of mathematics not covered in any course, and
• gain valuable presentation skills.

Undergraduates also register for the 1-credit-hour Math 285.

Requirements

The DRP pairs undergraduate students with graduate-student mentors for an independent reading course. Undergraduate participants are expected to:

• meet once per week with the graduate-student mentor,
• work independently for approximately three hours between meetings, and
• give a 10- to 15-minute talk on their project at the end of the semester.

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Testimonials from participants

• "One-on-one communication with my mentor was most valuable to me, since that level of engagement is usually not possible in mathematics courses where there are many other students."
• "I would love for this to become a required course for Math Majors, it was really helpful and I enjoyed the one-on-one aspect of it."

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DRP Activities - Spring 2025

• Kick-off event (January 21 at 5:00 [grad students] and 5:30 [undergrad students] in Blocker 169)
• A presentation on "How (not) to give a talk", plus a tutorial on Overleaf and Beamer (Tuesday, April 8 at 5:30 pm in Blocker 628)
• (Optional) Practice presentations (Tuesday and Wednesday, April 15-16 at 5:00)
• Final presentations by undergraduate participants, DAY ONE (Wednesday, April 23 at 5:00 pm in Blocker 624 and 628)
• Final presentations by undergraduate participants, DAY TWO (Thursday, April 24 at 5:00 pm in Blocker 624 and 628)

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To participate in Fall 2025, see below.

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How to participate (undergraduates) - Fall 2025

We encourage applications from any undergraduate who:

• will be a sophomore, junior, or senior during the semester of the program,
• has completed a year-long calculus sequence, and
• is interested in learning interesting mathematics outside of the classroom.

[NEW] we are offering (in addition to the usual DRP experience) a number of interdisciplinary projects that you can work on in teams of two (with a grad student mentor).

• A list of project ideas is here.
• If you have any questions about these projects, don't hesitate to contact Prof. Matthias Maier (maier@tamu.edu).

We warmly welcome applications from first-generation college students, women, and members of underrepresented groups in STEM.

To apply to participate in Fall 2025:

• complete the application for undergraduate students (Deadline: Friday, March 21), and
• register for Math 285 (Directed Studies), section 501, for 1 credit-hour.

How to participate (graduate students) - Fall 2025

To be announced (by email)!

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DRP Activities - Prior Semesters

• See here

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Organizers

The DRP is organized by Jordy Lopez and Crystal Farris, with faculty mentor Anne Shiu.

Please reach out to any of us with questions!

Resources

Project ideas from other DRPs can be found at the websites of the DRP Network, the Maryland DRP, and the University of Texas DRP.

Acknowledgment

The DRP is generously supported by several organizations:

• the National Science Foundation (CAREER grants DMS-1752672 and DMS-2045636)
• a Montague-CTE (Center for Teaching Excellence) Scholar grant
• a DRP Network mini-grant supported by the National Science Foundation (grant IUSE-1740143)