Vertical Integration of Research and Education (VIGRE)

Program Overview

In 2005 Stanford's Statistics Department was awarded a VIGRE grant by the National Science Foundation. This is the cornerstone of our enhanced activities in the interface between Statistics, Computational Biology, Mathematical Finance and Information Science. It does so by providing funding to support:

• postdoctoral associate positions whose focus is on these cognate fields
• graduate research fellowships
• research experiences for undergraduates
• outreach to women and minority junior faculty

Our program goals are:

• to expand and integrate our research and educational activities, connecting Statistics to the cognate fields of Computational Biology, Mathematical Finance and Information Science.
• to host thematic activities that promote the interaction among undergraduate students, graduate students, postdoctoral associates and faculty members.
• to bring new energy and focus into our statistics curriculum.
• to attract to the fields of probability and statistics talented students interested in quantitative sciences.
• to broaden the educational experiences and future career opportunities of our students and everyone else in the department's orbit.

To this end, postdoctoral associates and students are mentored in cutting-edge research, moving students in cognate fields with strong practical skills and quantitative talent to engage more directly in intellectual discovery at the frontiers of human knowledge, under the coherent leadership of a diverse group of Stanford faculty.

Program Components

The program contains several integrated components, including curriculum development, material assimilation online, research seminars led by postdoctoral associates and graduate students, informal group meetings, industrial affiliates activities, summer outreach and mentoring of junior faculty, and an undergraduate learning by discovery initiative.

Seminar Series

The Financial Mathematics Seminar, is a focal point of activities at Stanford in this area, and an opportunity to interact with leading academic and industry speakers. The Industrial Affiliates Workshop is an opportunity to interact with industry personnel, and to explore the impact of new results on current and anticipated industrial applications.

Research Programs

• Postdoctoral Positions - A cornerstone of our expanded activity in each field is our newly created Postdoctoral Associate position. It is uniquely structured to maximize mentoring and interaction opportunities, providing each participant with a broad perspective of the relevant cognate field and putting her/him in an advantageous position with respect to his peers, in intellectual breadth as well as the development of mentoring and communication experience and skills.

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• Undergraduate Research Assistantship -
  The undergraduate learning by discovery initiative is designed to stimulate students interest in the mathematical sciences, expose them to the creative aspects of statistical research and enhance their communication skills. It is mainly conducted during summers when research groups meet weekly, with opportunities for faculty and postdoctoral associates to mentor graduate and undergraduate students, working together on specific applied projects. The projects are interdisciplinary in nature, and focus on the statistical modeling of high-throughput biological data. VIGRE research assistantships are available for Stanford undergraduate students who are either US citizens or permanent residents.
  
  Contact Prof. Susan Holmes no later than April 4th for a summer position.
  
  Summer Research Opportunity for Undergraduates

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• Summer Outreach Activities - A key component of our initiative is outreach to women and minority junior faculty at a critical stage of their career (2-3 years before tenure), as part of our VIGRE summer activities.

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• Graduate Traineeship - US citizens and permanent residents are eligible for VIGRE Graduate Traineeships. Support includes full tuition and fees and a stipend to cover living expenses. Participants are supported mostly by the fellowship during their first 2-3 years, during which time they have limited teaching duties, and by a mix of teaching and research funding thereafter. Since all eligible students admitted to the PhD program are automatically considered for VIGRE support, there is no need to apply for this fellowship separately.
  
  VIGRE fellowships for the duration of one academic quarter may be offered to promising MS applicants in Financial Mathematics, promoting their transition to the PhD program. Application for these is handled via the Financial Mathematics program.