Rhodes, John, Professor of Mathematics
Howard Hughes Medical Institute Faculty Development Grant – Awarded in December 2004
Phylogenetics and Algebraic Statistics
I am requesting funds for travel to several conferences that relate to the goals of the newest HHMI grant. Specifically, these conferences are "at the intersection of mathematics and biology" and will support my continuing development both as a researcher and teacher. A number of years ago, I was involved in a curriculum development project that led to the cross-listed BiMa 155: Mathematical Models in Biology course. That work subsequently led to my co-authoring a textbook, and in the course of writing that book, I attended a bioinformatics conference in Montreal. At that conference, my collaborator and I because interested in an approach to phylogenetics that had been proposed in the late 1980s, but remained undeveloped due to some fundamental mathematical difficulties. After a year of thought, we made some progress that has generated interest in both the phylogenetics and mathematics communities. Since then, as our ideas have progressed, my main research focus has shifted to phylogenetics and the broader area of algebraic statistics.
Shulman, Bonnie, Associate Professor of Mathematics
Howard Hughes Medical Institute Faculty Development Grant – Awarded in March 2005
Departmental Seminar in Computational Sciences
Proposal to support a departmental seminar in computational sciences. A faculty development seminar to explore various platforms (Mathematica, Maple, Matlab, Minitab, Geometer's Sketchpad) that support mathematical instruction and research in mathematical modeling, numerical analysis, linear algebra, combinatorics, game theory, algebraic geometry, and number theory. A major restructuring of the mathematics department took place as a result of our departmental review of 2000-2001. Following recommendations of the outside committee, we "drop[ped] Computer Science, except for [courses] that complement the mathematics major." In our departmental response, we recommended that "the secondary concentration in computer science be eliminated by the college, and the math department offer two upper-level computer science electives appropriate for the math majors." We have slowly phased out the CS courses over the last four years, permitting those who had already signed up for a secondary concentration in CS to have enough courses to graduate. The last of those students are now gone, and we are in the process of revising our curriculum to include "computational sciences" as part of a mathematics major.
Wenzel, Thomas, Charles A. Dana Professor of Chemistry
Howard Hughes Medical Institute Faculty Development Grant – Awarded May 2005
NMR Spectroscopy in the Analysis of Chemical Compounds
I am writing a research monograph on the use of nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy for the analysis of chiral compounds. Chiral compounds are those which are not super-imposable on their mirror image; they are, in essence, "left-handed," "right-handed," and both. This "handedness" gives compounds certain characteristics. Chirality has great relevance in many areas of chemistry but particularly pharmaceuticals, where a chiral compound may have very different effects ranging from significant medical benefits to catastrophic side effects, so it is essential to understand the chiralitry of compounds and their resultant effects. A highly effect way to identify the chirality of compounds is to employ NMR spectroscopy; this has been the focus of my work for many years. To prepare this book, I need to conduct a thorough literature review to ensure that the book cites all of the most important discoveries in the field. Approximately 10,000 abstracts of published materials exist; I expect to reference about 1500 of them in the book. A student assistant will help with the initial steps in this exhaustive literature review, providing me with more time to devote to the analysis of the relevant literature.
Wong, Peter, Professor of Mathematics
Howard Hughes Medical Institute Faculty Development Grant – Awarded December 2004
International Conference on Homotopy Theory and Related Topics
This grant will provide travel support for me to participate in the International Conference on Homotopy Theory and Related Topics at Korea University, Seoul, South Korea, February 1-4, 2005. Travel to international conferences is an integral part of my ongoing research. My primary research focus is on topological fixed point theory within the broad discipline of algebraic topology. Most of the active researchers in my field reside outside of the United States. My contact with the topologists at the Institute of Mathematics and Statistics (IMEP of the University of Sãn Paulo, Brazel, has proven to be beneficial to my research and to Bates students. Participating in the International Conference on Homotopy Theory and Related Topics will increase my contact with algebraic topologists from China, Japan, and Korea. Topological fixed point theory is one of the few active research areas within algebraic topology. The research community is small but the field is receiving more attention among other topologists in recent years, partially due its applications to other areas of mathematics. Homotopy theory is another classical branch of algebraic topology from which powerful techniques can be employed to study topological fixed point problems. Attending this conference will give me the opportunity to learn possibly new techniques from homotopy theorists and for me to introduce topological fixed point theory to other topologists. Most importantly, this is one of the few conferences where there is a high concentration of algebraic topologists from China, Japan, and Korea. Of the 43 confirmed participants, 23 are from Korea, 7 from China, 1 from Singapore, 8 from Japan, 1 from Germany, and 3 from the United States. I hope that making new contacts with topologists from these Asian countries will lead to future collaboration similar to what I have made with the topologists at IME in Sãn Paulo, Brazil.
