The Combinatorics REGS group is structured as a very lively collaborative research group in which many problems are proposed and students coalesce into groups to work on whichever problems appeal to them. Numerous joint papers have emerged from this activity. We have typically met MWF afternoons for about 2.5 hours each during Summer Term II. The problems are presented by both faculty and students and come from conferences, web pages, journal articles, etc.
Funding currently is quite limited and is directed primarily at students in our Mathematics Department who have completed at most two years of graduate study. Funding emphasizes this group because the program is designed to provide an early exposure to research, thereby increasing mathematical maturity and easing the transition from coursework to research. There is no presumption that the projects will lead to thesis research, although this can happen.
More experienced students are also invited to participate in the combinatorics group, although direct funding is not available from REGS sources for them. In the past the combinatorics group has had a mixture of students at all stages of graduate study, from both the Math and CS Departments (the CS students will not be supported by the Math Dept). Almost all have found it valuable, partly due to the mix of students with various backgrounds and various levels of experience.
Reports on the Combinatorics REGS activities for individual years
are available here.
Report for 2004: ps, pdf.
Report for 2005: ps, pdf.
Report for 2006: ps, pdf.