About the DRP
Questions or comments? Email drp@math.
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General information
The Directed Reading Program is an initiative to pair undergraduate students with graduate student and junior faculty mentors to undertake independent study projects of various sizes and scopes. Each DRP project is for the duration of one academic quarter, which is roughly ten weeks. Undergraduates can apply for DRP positions and those who are selected will be paired with mentors according to their mathematical interests and availability.
Projects must initially be approved by the DRP committee of graduate students and faculty. Many are based around the self-paced reading of a particular book or article with substantial guidance by the mentor. Past and current project titles can be viewed by quarter here and by math area here. However, most frequently, the project is arrived upon by discussion of common interests of the mentor and mentee, rather than being limited to this menu.
Requirements
The DRP student is required to have an hour-long weekly meeting with his or her mentor to discuss progress towards the goal of the project. Approximately four hours of independent work by the student is expected between meetings. At the end of the quarter (or sometimes the beginning of next quarter), the group of DRP participants meets, and each DRP student gives a 10-20 minute presentation on the quarter's work. Depending on the number of participants, there may be more than one such meeting.
Benefits of program (for students)
Students participating in the Directed Reading Program:
Learn to work independently through studying a topic of their choice, well-suited to their interests.
Develop relationships with graduate student mentors and receive a good deal of personal attention focused on their mathematical studies.
Gain valuable experience in mathematical communication by giving a presentation on their work to an audience of their peers.
Qualifications (for students)
Any sophomore, junior, or senior is eligible to apply if he or she has a strong background in mathematics, including at least the completion of a year-long calculus sequence, or Math 11200. (First-years and others with unusual background will be considered on a case-by-case basis.) Factors such as course grades, recommendations, work experience, performance in past projects, as well as the student's specific interests are taken into account when assigning mentors and projects.
NOTE: Please remember that the DRP is an additional voluntary activity and coursework takes first priority. A well-done DRP is not a substitute for a good course grade. You should be particularly careful if you are in a highly challenging courses such as (Hons) Analysis or an IBL course.
ADDITIONAL NOTE ON AUTOMATIC REJECTION CRITERIA, FALL QUARTER: In the Fall Quarter, we automatically reject all first-year undergraduate applicants (freshmen), as well as all students doing Hons Analysis (Math 207) or IBL Analysis, regardless of whether they are in freshman or sophomore year. If you are in one of these categories, you are encouraged to concentrate on your coursework for now and consider applying in a future quarter. In case of questions, contact drp@math.uchicago.edu
Applying to the program (as a student)
Applications for the Directed Reading Program are sought and considered on a quarterly basis. Shortly before the beginning of the quarter, applications from students are sought. Students can apply in three simple steps:
Create an account at the DRP website if you do not already have one.
Log in to the account, and click "apply" under "student tasks" in the right sidebar (or follow this link).
Fill in the form and submit it. The form asks for course grades, recommendations, work experience, as well as specific interests and what you hope to gain from the DRP.
Students who have already applied in previous quarters should use the account already created to apply.
The deadline for applications for the Fall Quarter is typically Friday of the first week of the quarter. For the Winter and Spring Quarters, the deadline for applicants is typically the Friday of the finals week of the previous quarter.
Information for mentors
The Directed Reading Program looks for mentors among graduate students and junior faculty in the mathematics department. On some rare occasions, computer science graduate students may be chosen as mentors as well. First-year graduate students are requested not to apply for the program unless they are passing out of at least one of the graduate courses.
Mentors are reimbursed for their work and also given a small budget to purchase books for use by the student on topics relevant to the project. Reimbursements will be added to the monthly paycheck for the month at the end of the quarter (or one month later) for those receiving monthly paychecks.
An email is sent out to math graduate students asking them to apply online when applications for the quarter are open. Interested mentors can apply online.
Behind the scenes
The Directed Reading Program is an independent activity run completely by graduate students under the loose supervision of Peter May, although funding comes from departmental grants (see below). This includes soliciting applications, creating student-mentor pairings, coordinating the presentations, and arranging for the appropriate payments/reimbursements. For more on the current composition of the committee, see contact.
The Directed Reading Program has no relationship with the undergraduate mathematics teaching program. In particular, John Boller, Diane Herrmann, and Paul Sally have no involvement with the program and do not receive information about student (or mentor) participation and performance in the program.
Funding
Until the 2010-2011 academic year (inclusive), the Directed Reading Program was funded through the VIGRE grant. See the University of Chicago Mathematics Department VIGRE grant page for more details. From the 2011-2012 academic year onward, the program will be funded from general funds for the mathematics department.
Questions or comments?
Please email drp@math with any questions or comments about the program and/or application process.