Contact

Jenya Soprunova
esopruno [at] kent.edu

Projects

In Spring 2024 the COF conference will be held at CWRU on Sunday April 7.

In the 2023-24 year the project and conference presentations are optional. All COF scholars are encouraged to work on a project and to present it in April at the COF conference organized jointly with CSU, UA, CWRU, Tri-C, and YSU. We hope that the experience you gain in working on your project will help prepare you for communicating your research in the future. In addition, you will develop your ability to work in groups and practice conducting research.

The idea is that you learn and maybe research something extra on top of your usual class work. The topic might be related to something you learned in class or just something you've heard about that interests you. The topic is not expected to be original research, particularly due to the time constraints, however, your topic might involve experimenting with something that is already known to the faculty member, but not to you. Or it might involve reading about experiments or ideas that other people have had. Or it might involve solving a problem posed by the faculty member after reading some background material.

You should think about three things: a) What you would like to work on? Is there a topic that is of special interest to you? b) Who you would like to be your faculty advisor? Is there an instructor that you like and would like to work with? c) You are expected to work in groups of 2-4 students. Is there anyone among COF students with similar interests?

How do I find a project advisor?

The most common thing to do is to approach one of your current or former instructors and talk with them about working on a project. Do not just ask them what they can offer in terms of a project. Tell them what you liked in the courses you took and what you want to study for your project. They may also have some suggestions.

You can also go talk to one of the professors who gave COF lectures this year. Your future work with them might be related to the topic of the talk they gave or could be about something completely different.

Here are some sources that can be used to look for project topics

  • Archive of College Mathematics Journal
  • Archive of Mathematics Magazine
  • Archive of Journal of Computing Sciences in Colleges
  • Crossroads, The ACM Magazine for Students
  • Archive of The Mathematics Teacher Magazine

    • Here are some posters from Spring 15, Spring 16, Spring 17, Spring 18, and Spring 19.

    How do I find a group?

    If you need help finding other COF students with similar interests, please fill out a short form below. I will compile the results and will send them to everyone, so that you can contact people who you think would be a good fit.