Introduction to an Exemplary Element of Our Doctoral Program

Mini Courses

State University of New York, Stony Brook

Department of Mathematics

Description of exemplary or innovative element

Stony Brook has been sponsoring "mini-courses" that have been quite successful. The purpose of these courses is to give an introduction to various specialized areas of mathematics. They are meant to be more thorough than a seminar, yet more introductory than a special topics course. We have also been holding an Exposure to Research seminar. The purpose of this is to give junior graduate students some idea of what types of research various members of the department are involved in.

Introduction to Quantum Computing

The Mathematics of Drosophila Development and Transcriptional Control

Laminations by Holomorphic Curves

Teichmuller Theory of the Universal Hyperbolic Solenoid

Introduction to Symbolic Dynamics

Exposure to Research seminars

Details of the element

We have been running mini-courses for at least five years; the Exposure to Research seminar is about two years old. Both are optional for graduate students to attend; however, they are extremely popular. Mini-courses sometimes arise as natural outgrowths of existing seminars, when people attending a seminar want to know more about a topic than can be addressed in a single lecture. Sometimes a faculty member offers to give a mini-course on a topic (such as quantum computing) that does not fit neatly into any of our existing seminars. The Exposure to Research seminar is conducted by faculty members from across the entire department.

What educational purpose does this element serve?

The purpose of the mini-courses is to provide a forum for the exposure of specialized subjects in mathematics without requiring the time commtiment required for a special topics course. Students and faculty are able to receive a more thorough introduction to highly specialized fields than they would through a seminar or colloquium.

Reflection From a Student

While the Exposure to Research seminars held at Stony Brook have not drastically changed my mathematical direction, they were still consider them a valuable source of enrichment. They provided a deserved forum for students to learn what areas of research are active at the university. This not only included active areas in our own department, but areas in the applied mathematics department, as well.

I also attended the mini-course on computational geometry, and was surprised to find that several of the concepts presented were quite relevant to my own field of research. I hope that I may return to this application at some later point in my career. The mini-course was an ideal way to gain exposure to this topic. Had it been an entire course, I would have been apprehensive about committing that much time to something other than my research, and may not have taken advantage of the opportunity.

What data or evidence tells us that this works?

Our mini-courses and Exposure to Research seminars are extremely well-attended, which tells us that they address an important need.