DiM Research Panel PART I – Students (Winter 2024)

1. Introductions

• Tasmin Chu, Probability and Groups
  • 2 x SURA
  • Helped friend solve his problem, and now it is becoming a paper
• April Niu, Algorithmic Game Theory
  • Computer science
  • Joined statistics and computer science here
  • Got a professor to be their supervisor after undergrad
  • Did SURA in algorithm design in game theory, which is becoming their research now
  • More applied math
• Carl Kristof-Tessier, Geometric Group Theory
  • 2 x NSERC
  • Number theory
  • Geometric group theory
  • Starting their master’s degree with the professor that they were working with this summer
  • Interacts with both math and computer science
  • Strong algorithm related to group
• Zhaoshen Zhai, Geometric Topology
  • SURA
  • Notes that it is normal to get rejected

2. How did you know which professor to reach out to?

General advice

• Take courses that you are interested in, take many courses, don’t be afraid by some courses or about what people say about the course
• Talk to the professor, and they can maybe direct you
• Even if you don’t know exactly what you want to study, throw yourself out there

Personal experiences

• Panelists say they had no idea what they were doing
• In Algebra 3, reached out to their teacher, told them “I’m lost”
• Emailed a lot of professors, and all said no except one. Didn’t know the professor but still shot his shot and got an interview

3. What is the hardest part of research?

• Prerequisites
• Lots of reading, but it makes you stronger. It becomes fun to read the textbooks because you understand them better.
• When you can’t move on from that one line from the textbook.

4. NSERC and SURA – What are the differences? How do you apply?

• Apply to NSERC (not for international students) first and you are immediately considered for SURA (Science Undergraduate Research Award)
• For Arts, there is ARIA (Arts Undergraduate Research Internship Awards)
• Other option: ISM Undergraduate Summer Scholarship. Less money but can still consider it.

5. What does the day-to-day look like?

• Go into Burnside, meet with the professor once a week, gives guidelines on what you do for the week
• Close contact with the professor, task-based
• You are never completely alone, a lot of talking
• Meet people, make friends

6. How many hours a week do you spend on your research?

• 3-4 hours a day
• Most of it is talking, hanging out
• Every day there is a bit of research
• It varies week to week

7. I am U1 and have not taken many courses. What are the chances that I do research?

• Look for supervisors! A lot of professors don’t care about courses because their research is so specific
• Your chances are lower than the second years that already applied
• Worth applying still because it only makes your chances go up for next year

8. What are your best or most important memories related to research?

• Highest: solving a problem
• Lowest:
  • A lot of PhD students with them, so they felt behind.
  • Thought they did something right, but it was wrong. They then fixed it and it was right.
  • Imposter syndrome – god complex. It comes and goes.

9. Does research get boring?

• The research is not your area if you get bored.
• Need to care about your problem, or it will be hard to work on it.

10. How was the conclusion of your research?

• Not writing a report
• Write your paper as quickly as possible so you don’t get bored
• If it is a great match, talk to your professor about doing a Master’s
• You often continue your research
• 2 final reports
• You can always say no if the professor asks you to continue in that research – don’t stay stuck in the area if you don’t want to.

11. How much support did you have during challenging moments?

• Reach out to your collaborators
• Research something that is interesting to other people so you can talk to other people as well
• By talking with your collaborators and making connections, you learn something about your own project even though other people don’t necessarily understand
• Collaboration is good, but the goal is to become and independent researcher

12. When you contacted the supervisors, did you already have a project in mind?

• You don’t need a specific project, but usually have a field in mind
• The professor almost always chooses the project
• If you are interested in a certain project, look into what you want
• No one expects you to have a research problem in mind, but you should also dive into problems you find interesting

13. Do you need SURA or NSERC to do research?

• Try to get money, as it is expensive to live

14. How does research affect your workload?

• Research project class takes a lot of time
• Takes a certain amount of space in your life, depending on how obsessive you are

15. Getting money for research: Can you only get funding from research grants or can you get paid privately?

• Can come from the professor’s grant
• Don’t count on getting paid privately, it is not an internship
• Money is also important for incentives, on both sides
• SURA – competitive application, can put in your CV

16. MATH470

• You don’t get paid – not an option
• You have to find a supervisor – talk to them in person, reach out, try your best

17. What general courses would make up a good basis for math research?

• Take all algebras and analysis classes
• Topology, geometry-topology (biased, their field), comes up a lot, very modern
• Depends on your research, theirs was in 447

18. How long are summer research projects?

• 15 weeks, possible to get 16 weeks
• Most of the time you have to be in person
• Usually the whole summer
• Arts – only 10 weeks
• Depends on the grant
• Depends on the progress of your research, they can extend SURA (6 months)
• Depends on the professor

19. For someone not in honours, is there a lower probability of getting SURA?

• Don’t worry about it, take good courses
• Take honours classes in the area that you are interested in, don’t be afraid of the honours classes

20. How do you deal with imposter syndrome?

• Never feel too stupid to apply of talk to a professor, they are open-minded
• Goal is to learn, not revolutionize the world
• You are not uniquely stupid

21. Should you do research as early as possible?

• The more classes you take, the more attractive you look for supervisors
• The more time goes on, the more opportunities will come your way
• Don’t stress too much, fine to be U3-U4, take your time, go at your own pace

22. How long do you talk to your supervisors for?

• Usually about an hour

23. Final Advice

• Research – most fulfilling experience, most social, unique experience
• Present your research and talk about your research
• the social aspect is a big part
• You get paid for sitting down and doing nothing
• If you are passionate, professors will take you
• Don’t be afraid of the less flashy fields