Math Department receives nearly $1 million

Five research projects funded by the National Science Foundation

While many people took a vacation during the summer break from classes, researchers in the University of Missouri-Columbia’s Department of Mathematics were busy winning nearly $1 million in grants from the National Science Foundation (NSF).

"It is certainly an indication of our success," said Mark Ashbaugh, department chair. "When I arrived here more than 20 years ago, this department received three or four grants total; and now more than half of the department’s research is funded by the NSF."

Since June 1, five grants have been awarded to research projects in several different areas of mathematics. Ashbaugh said the spectrum of people receiving the grant money reflects the fact that MU’s math department has strong faculty in a range of areas. The high amount is unusual because many math projects do not require expensive equipment; most of the money is spent on manpower.

The department received a grant of nearly $500,000 to support collaborative research in harmonic analysis. Ashbaugh said this Focused Research Group (FRG) grant pulls together people from different universities to develop a program and organize workshops. This particular project will bring together experts from MU, Georgia Tech and the University of Georgia.

"Certainly the FRG grant is a feather in our cap," Ashbaugh said. "It says we’ve got people at the forefront of research and that others want to work with us."

Researchers working on the Harmonic analysis project will focus on training graduate and doctoral students to foster the next generation of mathematicians, critical to the nation’s scientific infrastructure.

"In addition to the five grants recently awarded, quite a number of other mathematics faculty have ongoing projects supported by the NSF," Ashbaugh said. "It is exciting to watch the success of this department continue to grow."

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Links:

Focused Research Group award:
Principal Investigator Alex Iosevich

Department of Mathematics

National Science Foundation

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