DMS is...
The Division
of Mathematical Sciences is a unit of the National Science Foundation
whose mission is to promote the health of academic mathematical sciences
and to enable research and education in the mathematical sciences at the
highest possible, professional, research, technical, and creative levels.
Modes of grant support range from awards to individual investigators;
awards to focused research groups of investigators; awards to departments
of mathematical sciences for curriculum reform, undergraduate and graduate
education, and postdoctoral training; awards of postdoctoral fellowships;
awards for shared research equipment; support for national institutes;
awards for conferences and workshops; and, other investments that assist
the U.S. academic mathematical sciences.
The Division
of Mathematical Sciences consists of subdisciplinary programs and activities,
including Algebra, Number Theory, and Combinatorics; Analysis; Applied
Mathematics; Computational Mathematics (which includes Biomathematics);
Topology, Geometric Analysis, and Foundations; Probability and Statistics;
and, Infrastructure. Infrastructure provides crosscutting support for
postdoctoral fellowships, equipment, education reform efforts, national
institutes, and other non-disciplinary focused activities.
For Fiscal
Year 2001, the Division of Mathematical Sciences had a budget of about
$122M. The Division provides over 60% of the Federal academic research
support for the U.S. mathematical sciences enterprise. The 21st
Century mathematical sciences (1) underpin and enable research advances
in mathematics, science, engineering, and technology and (2) are fundamental
to the education of the nation’s future scientific workforce. The accelerating
"mathematization" of science reaches beyond the physical and
informational sciences to embrace the bio-, geo-, and environmental sciences,
as well as the social, behavioral, risk, and economic sciences.
The Division
continues its support of world-class disciplinary research. Throughout
the 1990’s the Division has restructured and repositioned itself to address
the new national challenges in the mathematical sciences, science, engineering,
and technology:
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A
program (VIGRE) assists departments of mathematical sciences
in systemic undergraduate and graduate curriculum reform, postdoctoral
training, graduate student education, and undergraduate research experiences.
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A
program (IGMS) enables mathematical scientists to pursue sabbatical-type
activities in other academic science and engineering departments.
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The
GOALI activity encourages mathematical scientists to develop
links with industry.
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The
Division’s National Institutes create cutting-edge research
environments. With the recent creation of an additional new national
institute, the Division’s three institutes are unique in that they
do not focus on a single discovery theme stretched over many years.
Instead, in rapid response to research opportunities, they offer yearlong
focused activities on new science and engineering research. For example,
the Institute in Pure and Applied Mathematics programs offered
Functional Genomics (2000) and Financial Mathematics
(2001) and the Institute in Mathematics and Its Applications
offered Mathematics of Multimedia (2000).
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Focused
Research Groups (FRG) of mathematical, statistical and other
scientists provide multiyear efforts to attack scientific and engineering
challenges.
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The
recent DMS/DARPA partnership provided multidisciplinary research
teams on thin films for etching and computer-aided design of silicon
chips.
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