The Department of Mathematics and Statistics at Missouri University of Science and Technology is hosting a Mathematics and Statistics Research Paper Competition and Conference, both for undergraduate students and for graduate (Master’s level) students.  Rules for the competition are given below.

We hope this will be seen as an exciting opportunity for students at your school who are involved in mathematics and/or statistics research to showcase their work to a regional audience, and to get a chance to interact with students and faculty from other institutions in Missouri and surrounding states.  Our goal is for the students to have a rewarding experience educationally, personally, and professionally.  Note that we will be able to provide travel support for the top twelve student entries and their faculty sponsors in each of the four divisions of the competition. 

Any questions regarding the competition and conference may be addressed either to Dr. Leon M. Hall (lmhall@mst.edu) or to Dr. V. A. Samaranayake (vsam@mst.edu).  We are looking forward to receiving the student papers and hope to see some of your faculty and your students in Rolla this March.

Missouri S & T - Mathematics and Statistics

STUDENT RESEARCH PAPER COMPETITION – 2009

COMPETITION RULES

Competition Categories

• Participants will compete in one of four different categories: (1) undergraduate mathematics paper competition, (2) undergraduate statistics paper competition, (3) graduate mathematics paper competition, and (4) graduate statistics paper competition.
• The two undergraduate level competitions are open to all undergraduate students who are attending an institution of higher education in Missouri or in a surrounding state.
• The two graduate level competitions are open to all graduate students working towards a master’s degree in mathematics or statistics at an institution of higher education in Missouri or in a surrounding state.
• The surrounding states are identified as Arkansas, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Nebraska, Oklahoma, and Tennessee.
• The two mathematics paper competitions are open to research papers that are primarily in the area of applied or pure mathematics, but not in probability or statistics.
• The two statistics paper competitions are open to research papers that are primarily in the areas of probability or statistics.
• Participants can select the subject category they wish to enter, but the review panel reserves the right to change the subject category in cases where, in the panel’s opinion, the paper belongs to a subject category different from that specified by the participant.

Author Eligibility

• The paper should be authored by (a) a single author who is an undergraduate or a master’s student, or (b) two authors, who are either both undergraduate students, or both master’s students. Papers co-authored by more than two individuals will not be accepted.
• A sponsor, who is a full-time faculty member at the author’s (or one of the authors’ in case of two authors) institution of higher education must certify, in writing, that the paper is the sole work of the author(s). The certification must also attest that each author is currently a student at the institution and designate the undergraduate/graduate status. This certification must accompany the paper submission.
• Papers co-authored by anyone other than undergraduate or master’s students will not be accepted. In particular, papers with a faculty advisor as co-author will not be accepted.

Criteria on Content

The content of papers must satisfy the following criteria to be eligible for entry into the competition.

• The paper should be the original work of the author or authors and must be certified as such by the faculty sponsor.
• The work presented in the paper, in whole or in part, should not be published or accepted for publication, at the time of submission, in a journal, proceedings, or as part of a book. Results that are published as an undergraduate thesis are, however, eligible. A paper that was presented at a conference or a meeting is eligible as long as it is not published or accepted for publication at the time of submission.
• Papers submitted to the two mathematics competitions must, (a) present a new theorem and its proof, or (b) provide a new proof for an existing theorem, or (c) exhibit a counterexample to a notable conjecture, or (d) investigate the mathematical properties of an abstract system, or (e) develop a new mathematical algorithm, or (f) model the mathematical structure of a natural or scientific phenomenon, or (g) use mathematics to solve a real-world problem.
• Papers submitted to the two statistics competitions must, (a) present a new theorem in probability or statistics and its proof, or (b) provide a new proof for an existing theorem in probability or statistics, or (c) exhibit a counterexample to a notable conjecture, or (d) develop a new statistical methodology, or (e) investigate the performance of a statistical methodology under various conditions, or (f) model a natural or scientific phenomenon using probability and/or statistical concepts, or (g) provide a novel and interesting analysis of a real-world data set, or (h) present an application of probability and/or statistics in solving a real-world problem.

Paper Format

        All papers must adhere to the following formatting rules.

• Papers must be typewritten on 8.5 x 11 inch sheets, in 12-point font, and double-spaced. There should be 1-inch margins on all sides.
• Authors must use typesetting software such as LaTeX or Mathtype.
• Each submission must consist of a title page, an abstract page, the main body of the paper, a bibliography or a reference page, and appendices (if any), in that order.
• Important tables and figures must appear within the main body of the paper.
• The main body of the paper (this excludes the title page, the abstract, the bibliography and appendices) must be no more than 15 pages long.

• The title page must include the competition level (undergraduate/graduate) the competition subject area (math/statistics), title of the paper, the full names of the authors, their affiliation, complete contact information (mailing address, e-mail address, home and work phone), and the name and contact information of their faculty sponsor, in that order.
• Authors’ names, their institution, or other identifying information must not appear anywhere else in the paper. Self-references must be done in such a manner that the reviewers will not ascertain the authors’ identity.
• The abstract page should have the title of the paper and provide a brief abstract of no more than 500 words and a set of no more than six keywords. The abstract must be double-spaced.  
• All pages must be numbered, beginning with the abstract page.
• All equations referenced within the text of the paper must be numbered.
• All derivations, results, claims, and conjectures that are not the original work of the authors must be properly cited. Failure to do so will result in the paper being disqualified.

How to Enter

The submission deadline is January 10, 2009. All entries must reach our office by 4 pm on 1/10/09 to be eligible for the competition. Submissions can be made electronically or through regular, certified, or courier mail. If submissions are done through e-mail, please send them to vsam@mst.edu with the subject line RESEARCH PAPER COMPETITION.  The paper should be sent as an MS Word file or as a PDF file attachment. Each electronic submission must be followed by a letter from a faculty sponsor attesting to the fact that the paper is the original work of the authors and providing confirmation that the author or authors are undergraduate or graduate students at the faculty sponsor’s institution. This letter can be sent electronically as a PDF file (with signature) or sent through regular mail. Papers submitted through the mail must be sent in duplicate and include the cover letter by the faculty sponsor. The submissions must be mailed to:

Student Research Paper Competition

Missouri University of Science and Technology

Department of Mathematics & Statistics

400 W. 12th Street

Rolla, MO 65409-0020

Review Process and Awards

The submitted papers will be reviewed by a panel of faculty members from Missouri University of Science and Technology (Missouri S & T).  Based on the number and the research topics of the entries, the panel may solicit additional reviewers from other institutions. The panel will insure that reviewers from a contestant’s home institution will not be asked to review his/her paper.

Once the papers are received, they will be assigned numbers and the cover pages will be removed before entries are given out for review. The reviewers will not be given any indication of who the authors are or of their home institution.

The top 12 entries in each of the four categories will be identified in an initial review. These 48 papers will be reviewed again and ranked to determine the winners in each category. First, second and third place winners in each category will receive a certificate and their school will receive a plaque.  In addition, first place winners in each category will receive a cash prize of $300. Second place winners will receive a cash prize of $200 while third place winners will receive $150.  Joint authors will share the cash prize.

The top 12 entrants from each category will be invited to attend a conference and awards banquet held Saturday, March 7, 2009 on the Missouri S & T campus. Authors will showcase their papers in a poster session at the conference.  Invitees will receive a $100 travel grant per paper entry. Faculty sponsors of the top 48 finishers will also be invited to the banquet. The cost of lodging (double occupancy) and the banquet for both students and faculty will be borne by Missouri S & T. The top 12 entrants in each category will be notified prior to February 15, 2009.

If you have any questions, please write to:

                            Student Research Paper Competition

Missouri University of Science and Technology

Department of Mathematics & Statistics

400 W. 12th Street

Rolla, MO 65409-0020

You may also send your inquires through e-mail to vsam@mst.edu. Please type STUDENT PAPER COMPETITION on the subject line.