Undergraduate Research

Interested in a challenge? Want some skills that will prepare you for both a job and further study? Our undergraduate research program provides stimulating mathematical experiences for ambitious undergraduates. Students have presented the results of their work to student and faculty groups throughout the Southeast. Some have published their work in national and international journals. It is not unusual to develop a project into an undergraduate or graduate thesis.

Faculty Research

• Dr. C. S. Chen's research is focused on the use of meshless methods for solving science and engineering problems. Roughly speaking, meshless methods are to the computational science what wireless technology is to digital communication. The work ranges from fundamental mathematical aspects to real world engineering applications.
  Contact: cs.chenFREEMississippi

• Dr. Jiu Ding researches chaos from a statistical point of view. More specifically, he develops and analyzes numerical methods for the computation of physical measures that describe statistical properties of dynamical systems. Recently he has directed an undergraduate research project that connects fractals to the composition of music.
  Contact: %20Jiu.DingFREEMississippi

• Dr. John Harris studies knots and links embedded in locally three-dimensional spaces, and the closely related area of quantum invariants of these spaces. He is also interested in finding game-theoretical invariants of knots and links and game-theoretical interpretations of existing invariants.
  Contact: John.HarrisFREEMississippi

• Dr. James Lambers' research focuses on efficient algorithms for the realistic, real-time simulation of physical phenomena such as the diffusion of heat energy, propagation of seismic waves through buildings, or the flow and transport of hydrocarbons in oil reservoirs. The techniques involved are equally applicable to image enhancement for medicine or law enforcement, or modeling of financial derivatives. Undergraduate students have contributed essential building blocks and unique perspectives that opened doors to new approaches
  Contact: %20James.LambersFREEMississippi

• Dr. Sungwook Lee's research is focused on understanding the intriguing interplay between mathematics and physics. He is supervising undergraduate research projects on black holes/wormholes, quantum computing, and quantum mechanics in curved spacetime.
  Contact: %20SungleeFREEMississippi

• Dr. John Perry explores computational algebra, which lies at the foundations of much applied mathematics. His work frequently connects to other subjects, such as computer science, combinatorial games, and linear programming, and it has great potential for undergraduate research.
  Undergraduate research page, Contact: %20John.PerryFREEMississippi

• Dr. Bernd Schroeder has directed undergraduate research on using data analysis techniques to predict future solar radiation intensity, student sucess in college and profits for a gaming provider.
  Contact: Bernd.SchroederFREEMississippi

• Dr. Haiyan Tian’s research interests include the development of efficient and accurate domain methods and boundary methods for partial differential equations, especially for problems on irregularly shaped domains. The research applies to many branches of science and engineering such as elasticity, structural and continuum mechanics, electro-cardiology, non-destructive testing, and thermal explosion.
  Contact: Haiyan.TianFREEMississippi

• Dr. Anna Wan is researching how to best use rapid prototyping (3d printing) in high school classrooms. 3d printing is a rapidly emerging technology that is already available in some high schools. Teachers who can effectively use this technology will be in high demand.
  Contact: Anna.WanFREEMississippi

• Dr. Zhifu Xie's research applies dynamical systems and nonlinear partial differential equations to mathematical biology and engineering. His recent research work ranges from discovering new stable orbits for celestial bodies to proving the existence of new patterns for three species in a food chain model. Much of this research is done with undergraduate students.
  Contact: Zhifu.XieFREEMississippi

• Dr. Huiqing Zhu's research is at the interface between numerical analysis, applied mathematics, and computer science. Many important problems in engineering, applied science, finance, and biology are modeled by partial differential equations that cannot be solved by hand. Dr. Zhu works on the design and analysis of algorithms for the numerical solution of partial differential equations.
  Contact: Huiqing.ZhuFREEMississippi

 

What do I have to do to graduate with Latin Honors?

Our handbook for graduating with Latin Honors outlines the requirements, and gives a timeline for students in the Honors College.

Is there a template for preparing my Honors Thesis?

The department maintains LATEX style files for writing an Honors thesis.