The $15.5 million Institute for Computational and Experimental Research in Mathematics will officially open today at noon. U.S senators Jack Reed and Sheldon Whitehouse, both democrats of Rhode Island, will join President Ruth Simmons in speaking at the celebration at 121 South Main St., where the institute will be housed.
The institute is the first of its kind in New England to be funded by a grant from the National Science Foundation. Its goals include attracting top-level researchers to Providence and creating a reputation for the University as one of the top math research universities in the nation.
It will support research on the convergence of mathematics and computation. Such research could spur advances in the studies of climate change, cryptography, cyber security, energy production and distribution, finance, personalized medicine, search engines and social networks, according to a University press release. It will establish a variety of programs, including "hot topics" conferences in the summers and undergraduate, graduate and postdoctoral research projects that will pair students with mathematicians.
"The role of the institute is to create the right environment — from the scientific vision and the setting of priorities to the infrastructure and computational tools — which supports the vital research projects of its participating scholars as well as the training and mentoring of the next generation of mathematicians," Professor of Mathematics Jill Pipher, who will lead the institute, wrote in an e-mail to The Herald in September.
Pipher will be among the speakers at the event. Other speakers will include Provost David Kertzer '69 P'95 P'98, U.S. Rep. James Langevin, Mayor Angel Taveras and Sastry Pantula, head of the Division of Mathematical Sciences at the National Science Foundation.
See tomorrow's Herald for full coverage
