What is the DRP?
The Directed Reading Program (DRP) is a program which pairs undergraduate students with graduate students for a semester-long independent study. The DRP gives undergraduates the opportunity to learn mathematics outside of the classroom and graduate students the opportunity to provide one-on-one mentorship.
DRPs started at the University of Chicago in 2003 and now run in mathematics departments all over the country. The DRP at the University of Pennsylvania was founded in Fall 2019 by Thomas Brazelton and George Wang. Learn more in this OMNIA article.
If you have questions about the program, please send us an email at math-drp@sas.upenn.edu.
Who should apply?
The DRP is meant to encourage undergraduates to explore a topic in mathematics that they might not encounter in a classroom setting. Participating in the DRP doesn’t require perfect grades or extensive coursework – rather, it requires interest, a serious time commitment, and enough background to read mathematics independently. While undergraduates of any year are welcome to apply, we have found that students get the most out of the DRP when they’ve already taken a proofs-based class or two.
Undergraduate participants will be registered for a pass/fail half-credit from the mathematics department for the DRP, so that the independent study can be reflected on their transcript. But bear in mind that UPenn doesn’t allow pass/fail classes to count towards major/minor requirements.
DRP mentors are graduate students in the Mathematics or AMCS programs. We typically prioritize applications from mentors who are beyond their first year of graduate school at UPenn.
More information about applications is available here. As we are committed to promoting diversity in mathematics, we especially encourage minorities to apply.
What is expected of mentees and mentors?
Once a mentor and mentee are paired, they choose a topic for the semester-long reading project. The goal of the project is to cover material that may not appear in a standard undergraduate math course. Projects can aim for a specific landmark (like a theorem or application) or be based around a book or article(s).
There are no restrictions on choice of topics, and pairs will be assigned based on the interests of both undergraduate and graduate students. However, undergraduates who are interested in topics like game theory and financial math may have better luck with the Wharton DRP. Most of our mentors have experience in areas like geometry, analysis, algebra, logic, topology, and probability.
DRP mentees should expect to do 4 hours per week of DRP-related work and (in addition) attend a 1-hour meeting with their mentor to discuss the project. During these meetings, the mentee might explain something at the board, like some of the material they read or exercises they’ve worked out, and the mentor can help answer questions about things that were confusing.
Additionally, at the end of the semester, mentees give a final presentation (~10 minutes). The presentation is not meant to cover everything from the project and should instead focus on specific a specific theorem, example, or application.
Mentors should help their mentee prepare this final presentation by watching a practice presentation and giving feedback on content, board-work, presentation skills, etc. Keep in mind that these presentations are very short and should be aimed at a general mathematical audience of mostly undergraduates.
Students should communicate with their mentor or the DRP committee if they are unable to meet these expectations. Failure to do so could prevent the student from participating in the DRP in future semesters. Similarly, mentors should contact the DRP committee if something goes wrong, for instance if the student does not show up to meetings, is not putting in enough work, or doesn’t want to continue the project.
Organizer info
Please contact us at math-drp@sas.upenn.edu.
The math DRP at the University of Pennsylvania was founded by Thomas Brazelton and George Wang. Other past organizers are Marielle Ong.
The current organizers are Leonardo (Léo) Ferreira Guilhoto and Maxine Elena Calle, and the faculty organizer is Mona Merling.
We also gratefully acknowledge support from the National Science Foundation and the UPenn Mathematics Department, especially Dennis DeTurck, Tony Pantev, and Rob Ghrist.