Alliance Programs

The Alliance offers several programs to the Alliance community. These programs include:

• Annual Alliance Field of Dreams Conference
• Alliance Affiliated Programs
• Alliance Activities Grant Program
• Alliance/AIM Finding and Keeping Graduate Students in the Mathematical Sciences
• Alliance Graduate Fellowships
• Alliance Postdoctoral Fellowships

Annual Conference

Apply now!
The Seventh Annual Iowa Mathematical Field of Dreams Conference will be held Nov. 1 - 3, 2013 in Phoenix, Arizona at the Hilton Mesa.

Each Fall, over 150 Scholars, together with Alliance mentors, are invited to this weekend conference. This conference introduces potential graduate students, from groups which are underrepresented in the mathematical sciences, to graduate programs in mathematics at Alliance schools as well as professional opportunities in these fields. Representatives of other quantitative fields, such as engineering and business, will be on hand to discuss opportunities in these areas as well.

Student participants will spend time with faculty mentors from the Alliance schools, get advice on graduate school applications, and attend seminars on graduate school preparation and expectations as well as career seminars. Participating faculty will enjoy an opportunity to network with colleagues from around the country and with representatives of national Mathematical Sciences Institutes.

The conference serves four purposes:

1. Alliance Scholars are given the opportunity to learn about graduate programs in the quantitative sciences
2. Alliance Scholars receive information and advice about career opportunities and applying for grad school
3. Alliance Faculty have the opportunity to carry out their continuing work to build seamless transitions between Alliance undergraduate mentor institutions and Alliance Graduate Program Groups
4. Alliance Faculty will have the opportunity to develop collaborative research projects

Conference application form

For information about past conferences, please click here!

Alliance Affiliated Programs

There are several affiliated programs that are especially interested in aligning with the Alliance and serving Alliance Scholars. Each of these types of programs welcomes Alliance Scholars, and we encourage you to apply! The types of programs are:

• Summer Programs for Undergraduates
• Summer Programs for Graduates
• Post-Baccalaureate Programs
• Conferences

Summer Programs for Undergraduates

• Arizona State University Department of Mathematics
  • Mathematical and Theoretical Biology Summer Program



• Grand Valley State University Department of Mathematics
  • The REU Program in Mathematics


• Illinois Institute of Technology
  • Computational Mathematics at Illinois Institute of Technology


• Iowa State University Department of Mathematics
  • Mathematics and Statistics Research Experiences for Undergraduates at Iowa State University


• Kansas State University
  • Summer Undergraduate Mathematics Research (SUMaR)


• MSRI (Mathematical Sciences Research Institute)
  • MSRI-UP Summer Program


• North Carolina State University Department of Mathematics
  • REU in Modeling and Industrial Applied Mathematics
  • REU+ program for under-represented undergraduate students
  • Summer Institute for Training in Biostatistics


• Rice University
  Summer Institute of Statistics REU


• San Diego State University
  • Mathematics Research Experience for Undergraduates


• St. Mary's University of Maryland
  • ESP-REU


• Summer/EDGE Program
  • EDGE: A Mathematics Program for Women


• Texas State University
  • New Paradigms of Information Retrieval from Diverse Data


• University of California, Berkeley
  • Geometry, Topology, and Operator Algebras Research Training Group


• University of Iowa Departments of Biostatistics and Statistics
  • Iowa Summer Institute in Biostatistics (ISIB)


• University of Louisiana at Lafayette
  • Smooth Transition for Advancement to Graduate Education (STAGE) for Underrepresented Groups in Mathematical Sciences


• University of Nebraska at Lincoln Department of Mathematics
  • Nebraska IMMERSE (Intensive Mathematics: a Mentoring, Education and Research Summer Experience


• Williams College Department of Mathematics
  • SMALL Undergraduate Research Project

Summer Programs for Graduates

• North Carolina State University Department of Mathematics
  • Research for Early Graduate Students (REG) Program


• University of Iowa Department of Statistics
  • Geoinformatics for Environmental and Energy Modeling Prediction (GEEMaP)

Summer Programs for Post-baccalaureates

• Smith College Department of Mathematics
  • Center for Women in Mathematics Post-Baccalaureate Program

Alliance Activities Grants*

Alliance Undergraduate Scholars are encouraged to apply to the Alliance for funding to support activities and projects which will aid the Scholar in preparing for and entering a graduate program in a mathematical science. A grant of up to $5,000 may be applied for to support activities of up to twelve months in duration.

Funds have been awarded for the academic year 2011-2012. Please check back here as to the status of next year's program.

(*Funding pending)

Alliance/AIM Finding and Keeping Graduate Students in the Mathematical Sciences

The Alliance is partnering with the American Institute of Mathematics to provide a series of bi-annual, week long summer workshops: Finding and Keeping Graduate Students in the Mathematical Sciences. These workshops will provide an opportunity for graduate programs in the math sciences to learn about successful initiatives to broaden participation in graduate study in the mathematical sciences as well as to draw up concrete plans to adapt and implement such initiatives in their home departments. These plans will improve outcomes for graduate students in terms of recruitment, retention, graduation, career development, and placement, with a particular focus on broadening access and enhancing success for U.S. students, particularly women and members of underrepresented groups. In addition, participation in this workshop will be an important criterion for those departments that wish to form Alliance Graduate Program Groups.

The first of these workshops will take place at AIM in Summer, 2012. Please check back here for further details.

Alliance Graduate Fellowships

The Alliance has applied for funding for a graduate fellowship program modeled on the Sloan and GEM programs. These fellowships will be available to Alliance Graduate Scholars who are enrolled in departments with Alliance Graduate Program Groups.

Alliance Postdoctoral Fellowships

The Alliance for Building Faculty Diversity in the Mathematical Sciences offers four NSF funded Postdoctoral Fellowships beginning Fall 2011 targeted at new or recent minority Ph.D.s. This alliance is comprised of NSF Mathematical Sciences Institutes and seven major research universities with a strong record of mentoring underrepresented mathematics graduate students. The post-doctoral fellowships are for three years. A typical 3-year postdoctoral fellow will spend 2 years at one of the alliance universities and up to a year at one or more national institute if there are suitable programs. Variations are possible to suit the needs of the candidate (e.g. time at more than one institute). Each postdoc will be matched with a research mentor at the host university.

Our aim is to establish and implement a mentorship model that will increase the access of underrepresented US groups to academic tenure-track positions. The cornerstone of this effort are these three-year post-doctoral fellowships in which recent Ph.D.s are engaged in a productive and successful apprenticeship that increases the likelihood not only that they will land a tenure-track appointment but, that they will actually get tenure.

To apply for the postdoctoral fellowships, and for more information, click here!