Grant funds NGCSU math and computer science research
Contact: Joshua Preston, University Relations
706-864-1949, jipreston@ngcsu.edu
DAHLONEGA, Ga. (June 30, 2008) - Two professors in the Department of Mathematics and Computer Science at North Georgia College & State University received a $19,850 mini-grant in May from the Center for Undergraduate Research in Mathematics at Brigham Young University to support undergraduate research in the math and computer science fields. Drs. Brad Bailey and John Holliday will use part of the grant to attend a training workshop in August on how to guide undergraduate students involved in research. A majority of the award will fund stipends and travel costs of NGCSU student researchers.
The Brigham Young program, in Provo , Utah , is supported by the National Science Foundation to promote specifically this type of research, Dr. Mark Spraker said. He is the director of the new NGCSU Center for Undergraduate Research and Creative Activities, which helps faculty and students in their research endeavors.
Four undergraduates majoring in the mathematics and computer science fields will be involved in the initial research projects conducted under the direction of Bailey and Holliday. Dusti Nisbet, Lauren Prill, Amanda Peck and Joshua Crunkleton will be leading projects that involve the study of relationships between the structure of social networks and disease propagation and a separate study on the exploration of the topological relationships between planar graphs and the embedding of planar graphs onto various surfaces. The students will travel to BYU next March to present their findings at a spring research conference.
