TRIPODS NSF REU-STEM FOR ALL 2021

NEURAL NETWORKS, JULY 19-AUGUST 13, 2021

urstemforall2021@gmail.com

Application Deadline: April 15, 2021 (see application instructions below)

PLEASE NOTE THAT THE APPLICATION DEADLINE HAS BEEN EXTENDED
 


Overview:

One of the most beautiful ideas generated by modern science in the past few decades is the concept of neural nets, a computational framework that imitates the workings of the human brain. These networks have been used to understand the outcome of scientific experiments, make weather prediction and political forecasts and even aid mathematical research. In this program, we are going to take a comprehensive approach to neural nets, with focus on both the theoretical and applied aspects of this beautiful emerging discipline. To this end, we are going to develop the basic theory of neural nets in the mornings, followed by intensive programming sessions in the afternoons. We are looking for participants who are equally excited about the pure and applied aspects of the neural- those who are just as willing to delve into the mathematical intricacies as they are to write complex code to implement the resulting ideas.

The program is particularly focused on recruiting participants who are women and members of underrepresented groups.

Structure of the program:

The basic structure of the program is the following. During the first two weeks of the program, lectures on the basics of the neural networks theory will be delivered in the mornings. In the afternoons, the participants will be broken up into small study/recitation groups for the purpose of working out the assigned problems meant to cement the material from the lectures. In the evenings, the students will be broken up into python groups with the aim of coding as much of the material presented in the lectures as possible. During the second half of the program, the participants will be introduced to several possible research projects related to the neural networks, and they will begin working on those projects under the guidance of the TripodsREU2021/StemForAll2021 team.

The program is going to run for four weeks, July 19-August 13, 2021. It will either run in person, or by zoom, depending on the degree of forbearance of the CoronaZombies and other cataclysms that we may be able to model using the aforementioned neural networks. The final decision will be made, based on circumstances, in the coming months. Fifteen (15) Tripods NSF participants will be accepted and each is going to receive a $1600 stipend for successfully completing the program. Another ten (10) STEM FOR ALL students will be accepted, but there is no funding currently available for the STEM FOR ALL participants, though we are hoping to secure such funding before the program begins. The application procedure is described below. The application deadline is March 26, 2021.

Particiants:

Tripods 2021: Noah Boonin, Jordan Darefsky, Julie Fleischman, Lingyan He, Anna Myakushina, Nick O'Brien, Svetlana Pack, Conor Taliancic, Andrey Yao, Zetrov Zhang.

StemForAll 2021: Nick Cimaszewski, Zhiyu Lei, Lucy Lin, George Lyu, Michele Martino, Edmund Sepeku, Sirui Wang, Kehan Yu, Kaiyuan Zhao, Nathaniel Grand, Nate Whybra

High School Participants: Maxwell Sun (Harley) and Kevin Xue (Brighton)


TripodsNSF2021/StemForAll2021 Team:


Coordinator:
Alex Iosevich (UR)

Organizers: Alex Iosevich (UR), Azita Mayeli (CUNY) and Patricia Medina (Yeshiva)

Lecturers: Alex Iosevich (UR),  Patricia Medina (Yeshiva) and Sevak Mkrtchyan (UR)

Guest lecturer: Mariusz Mirek (Rutgers)

Project leaders: Charlotte Aten (UR), Ivan Chio (UR), Alex Iosevich (UR), Boris Iskra (Yeshiva), Patricia Medina (Yeshiva), Andrew Thomas (Cornell), Emmett Wyman (UR).

Recitation instructors: Ivan Chio (UR), Steven Senger (Missouri State), Andrew Thomas (Cornell), Emmett Wyman (UR), Yujia Zhai (University of Nantes, France)

Python instructors: Charlotte Aten (UR), Boris Iskra (Yeshiva), Yiyang Su (Michigan State), Yihang Xu (Cornell), Nathan Whybra (UR)

Mentors: Ivan Chio (UR), Azita Mayeli (CUNY), Krystal Taylor (OSU), Brianna Vick (UR),
Emmett Wyman (UR)


Python/Study Groups: The following is the list of python/study groups. These groups are going to meet together during python jam sessions. They are also going to meet to go over the lectures.

Python Group Hylan: Noah Boonin,  Julie Fleischman, Anna Myakushina, Nick O'Brien, and Svetlana Pack
Python Instructor: Yiyang Su (ysu16@u.rochester.edu)
Zoom: 991 6375 0425 

Python Group Wegmans: Jordan Darefsky, Lingyan He, Conor Taliancic, Andrey Yao, and Zetrov Zhang
Python Instructor: Gordon Xu (gordonxyh@gmail.com)
Zoom: 995 6324 5368 

Python Group Susan B Anthony: Nathaniel Grand, Zhiyu Lei, Michele Martino, Maxwell Sun, Kevin Xue
Python Instructor: Charlotte Aten (caten2@u.rochester.edu)
Zoom: 926 2368 2567

Python Group Rush Rhees: Nick Cimaszewski, Lucy Lin, George Lyu, Nathan Whybra
Python Instructor: Nathan Whybra (nwhybra@u.rochester.edu)
Zoom: 937 6006 1008  

Python Group Wilson Commons:  Haiyan Huang, Edmund Sepeku, Sirui Wang, Kehan Yu, Kaiyuan Zhao
Python Instructor: Boris Iskra (borisiskra@gmail.com)
Zoom: 959 2706 2995

Research Projects Page

Preliminary Schedule (this item will be modified often!)

Monday, July 19, 2021

9.00-10:00 a.m. Lecture # 1 (Iosevich) Zoom: 573 239 4086 video

11:00 a.m.- noon Crash Course on Probability, Part I (Sevak Mkirtchyan)  Zoom: 573 239 4086 video

2.00-3.00 p.m. Lecture # 2 (Iosevich) Zoom: 573 239 4086 video

3.30-4.30 p.m. Study Group meetings

5.00-6.00 p.m. Crash course on basic inequalities, Part I (Iosevich) Zoom: 573 239 4086 video

7.00-8.30 p.m. Discussion of the material from the morning lectures (Ivan Chio and Emmett Wyman) Zoom: 573 239 4086

Tuesday, July 20, 2021

9.00-10:00 a.m. Lecture # 3 (Iosevich) Zoom: 573 239 4086 video

11:00 a.m.- noon Lecture # 4 (Iosevich) Zoom: 573 239 4086 video

1.00 p.m.-2.00 p.m. Study Group meetings

2.30-3.30 p.m. Crash course on basic inequalities, Part II (Iosevich) Zoom: 573 239 4086 video

4.00-5.00 p.m. Crash Course on Probability, Part II (Sevak Mkrtchyan) Zoom: 573 239 4086 video

7.00-8.30 p.m. Discussion of the material from the morning lectures (Ivan Chio and Emmett Wyman) Zoom: 573 239 4086

Wednesday, July 21, 2021

9.00-10:00 a.m. Lecture # 5 Zoom: 573 239 4086 video

11:00 a.m.- noon Lecture # 6 Zoom: 573 239 4086 video

1.00-2.00 p.m. Study Group meetings

2.30-4.30 p.m. Python jam sessions (each python group will have its own zoom address)

7.00-8.30 p.m. Homework problem session (Andrew Thomas) Zoom: 573 239 4086

Thursday, July 22, 2021

9.00-10:00 a.m. Lecture # 7 Zoom: 573 239 4086 video

1.00-2.00 p.m. Study Group meetings

2.30-3.30 p.m. Guest Lecture (Mariusz Mirek) Zoom: 573 239 4086 video

3.30-4.00 p.m. Discussion with the guest lecturer Zoom: 573 239 4086

7.00-8.30 p.m. Discussion of the material from the morning lectures (Ivan Chio and Emmett Wyman) Zoom: 573 239 4086

Friday, July 23, 2021

9.00-10:00 a.m. Lecture # 8 Zoom: 573 239 4086 video

1.00-2.00 p.m. Study Group meetings

2.30-4.30 p.m. Python jam session

7.00-8.30 p.m. Homework problem session (Andrew Thomas) Zoom: 573 239 4086

Saturday, July 24, 2021

Rest Day!!!

Sunday, July 25, 2021

Study group meetings to discuss the material. 

Monday, July 26, 2021

9.00-10:00 a.m. Lecture # 9 Zoom: 573 239 4086 video

11:00 a.m.- noon Lecture # 10 Zoom: 573 239 4086 video

1.00-2.00 p.m. Study Group meetings

2.30-4.30 p.m. Python jam session

7.00-8.30 p.m. Discussion of the material from the lectures (Steven Senger and Yujia Zhai) Zoom: 573 239 4086

Tuesday, July 27, 2021

9.00-10:00 a.m. Lecture # 11 Zoom: 573 239 4086 video

11:00 a.m.- noon Lecture # 12 Zoom: 573 239 4086 video

1.00-2.00 p.m. Study Group meetings

7.00-8.30 p.m. Homework problem session (Andrew Thomas) Zoom: 573 239 4086

Wednesday, July 28, 2021

9.00-10:00 a.m. Lecture # 13 Zoom: 573 239 4086 video

11:00 a.m.- noon Discussion of the potential research projects Zoom: 573 239 4086 video

1.00-2.00 p.m. Study Group meetings

2.30-4.00 p.m. Discussion of the research projects (continued) video

7.00-8.30 p.m. Discussion of the material from the lectures (Steven Senger and Yujia Zhai) Zoom: 573 239 4086

Thursday, July 29, 2021

9.00-10:00 a.m. Lecture # 14 Zoom: 573 239 4086 video

11:00 a.m.- noon Lecture # 15 Zoom: 573 239 4086 video

1.00-2.00 p.m. Study Group meetings

7.00-8.30 p.m. Homework problem session (Andrew Thomas) Zoom: 573 239 4086

Friday, July 30, 2021

9.00-10:00 a.m. Lecture # 16 Zoom: 573 239 4086 video

11:00 a.m.- noon Lecture # 17 Zoom: 573 239 4086 video

1.00-2.00 p.m. Study Group meetings

2.30-4.30 p.m. Python jam session

Saturday, July 31, 2021

REST DAY!!!

Sunday, August 1, 2021

Meeting with the mentors (to be arranged)

Informal meetings of the research groups.

August 2-13, 2021

Research phase of the program!

The research groups are going to establish a coherent schedule and approach to the projects.

The coordinator is going to meet with each research group, at least briefly, every day at 9 a.m.

Monday, August 2, 2021

1 p.m. CAREER PANEL 

Follow this link to the career panel page (work in progress)

Thursday, August 5, 2021

1 p.m. WOMEN IN RESEARCH panel discussion. Panelists to be announced shortly.

Saturday, August 6, 2021

Tour of the Rochester Cemetery!

Tuesday, August 10, 2021

3 p.m. Guest Lecture by Steven Senger! video

Friday, April 13, 2021

2 p.m. PROJECT PRESENTATIONS!!!! video

Schedule:

2.00 p.m. Universal Algebras and Neural Networks

2.30 p.m. Natural language processing on the social web (.pdf)

3.00 p.m. VC-dimension and Erdos problems (.pdf)

3.30 p.m.
Neural networks and fractals (.pdf)

4.00 p.m. Basketball player statistics and social media hype

4.30 p.m. Neural network sales models with economic indicators (.pdf)

5.00 p.m. Neural networks with noise (.pdf)



The following are the requirements for applying to the program under the auspices of TRIPODS REU 2021: (the application deadline is March 26, 2021)

i) The applicant must be a U.S. Citizen or a permanent resident. If you are not a U.S. Citizen or a permanent resident, you can still apply to this program under the auspices of STEM FOR ALL 2021 (see below)

ii) The applicant must be an undergraduate student at the University of Rochester, Cornell University, or a college or university in the Rochester area

ii)i Good knowledge of linear algebra and multi-variable calculus

iv) Good knowledge of mathematical analysis at the level of Rudin's "Principles of Mathematical Analysis" book or equivalent

v) Good knowledge of elementary probability, including moment generating functions, central limit theorem and related concepts

vi) Proficiency in python programming, including knowledge of numpy and other computational packages

vii) Willingness to prepare for the program diligently by reading the introductory materials and carefully going over the python code depository that will be prepared ahead of the program


If you wish to apply, please send an email to urstemforall2021@gmail.com by March 26, 2021 with the subject heading "Application to TRIPODS REU 2021" containing the following information:

i) Official college transcript

ii) One letter of recommendation from a mathematics instructor, preferably from an upper division course, and one from a computer programming instructor. The letters should be emailed by the letter writers directly to urstemforall2021@gmail.com.

iii) A page-long statement describing your interest in the program and future plans.



The following are the requirements for applying to the program under the auspices of STEM FOR ALL 2021: (application deadline is March 26, 2021)

Same as above, except that applicants NEED NOT be U.S. Citizens or permanent residents.


If you wish to apply, please send an email to urstemforall2021@gmail.com by March 26, 2021 with the subject heading "Application to STEM FOR ALL 2021" containing the following information:

Same as the information required for TRIPODS REU 2021 (described above).