Education and Outreach Programs, Workshops, and Events

SAMSI has a vibrant Education and Outreach (E&O) program which reaches about 150 undergraduate and graduate students each year (not including participation in research programs). The profoundly interdisciplinary research done at SAMSI is reflected in its E&O activities.

Activities at the Undergraduate level

Undergraduate Modeling Workshop. This week-long event is hosted in May before activities such as REUs get started around the nation. Each year one specific problem involving complex data is considered (for instance flu data from the CDC and network models to investigate interactions between different CDC flu regions). SAMSI graduate fellows and postdocs are actively involved as mentors; SAMSI program participants deliver lectures.

Undergraduate Outreach Workshops. Most of the activities of the SAMSI research programs (workshops, working groups, courses) are not ideal for undergraduate students. Yet, these students can benefit from exposure to the cutting edge research done as part of every SAMSI program. The outreach workshops aim to fill that gap. During these day and a half workshops, most of the material is presented by SAMSI postdocs, graduate students, and SAMSI visitors.

Activities at the Graduate level

SAMSI Tutorials and Workshops as part of regular research programs.

SAMSI Graduate Fellows participate in SAMSI Courses and Working Groups.

SAMSI Graduate Fellows Poster Reception. Each year in April we hold a poster reception to celebrate the achievements of our graduate fellows.

Industrial Mathematical and Statistical Modeling (IMSM) Workshop. About thirty students selected from a national pool work in teams on projects presented by nonacademic scientists. The workshop exposes mathematics and statistics students to current research problems from government labs and industry as well as to a team approach to problem-solving. The students learn to interact with scientists outside their discipline, allocate tasks among team members, and communicate results through both oral presentations and written reports.

K-12 Outreach

Kenan Fellows. SAMSI sponsors one SAMSI/Kenan Fellow per year to develop curricula that incorporate mathematical and statistical concepts associated with SAMSI programs. This Fellows Program is designed to advance K-12 science and mathematics education through the sponsorship of public school teachers, competitively selected to participate in 18-month fellowships while remaining active in the classroom. During the program, the selected teachers collaborate with SAMSI mentors for five weeks during the summer, and periodically during the academic year, on curriculum development.