Helping Students Present Their Research

With the guidance of an experienced research mathematician, there are many undergraduate students who are capable of professional level work in mathematics. The intent of this article is to assist mathematicians in helping their talented students become fully involved in the research experience. Such an experience will benefit the student, the adviser and the mathematics community. An essential part of a good research experience is the discipline of writing up the results of the research and presenting them. Presenting one’s research provides a good capstone event for a research experience. It helps the student to organize and focus the research results. Fortunately, the number of ways of doing this has increased in recent years, and each student researcher can find one that appeals to her/him personally. Apart from the traditional communication of publication in a printed journal, there are electronic journals, poster sessions and paper sessions at meetings. You can help your undergraduate research students choose the most appropriate methods of communicating their results depending on the depth of the results obtained, the personality of the undergraduate, and the logistical difficulties involved. As an item on a student’s resume, communicating the results of a research experience, whether in a journal, or at a mathematics meeting, is valued by graduate schools and potential employers alike.