Intercollegiate Biomathematics Alliance holds event at Illinois State

The Intercollegiate Biomathematics Alliance held its first undergraduate research event June 3–5 at Illinois State University.

The cross-disciplinary research event, titled Cross-Institutional Undergraduate Research Experience (IBA-CURE), brought faculty mentors and undergraduates together to initiate interdisciplinary research. IBA-CURE was designed to expand the horizons of students by initiating projects that are not available at their colleges, directed by faculty members from other IBA member institutions.

The inaugural IBA-CURE turned out to be an astounding success. With 33 in attendance—23 more than what was initially planned—mathematics and biology faculty mentors from Illinois State, the University of St. Francis, the University of Wisconsin La Crosse, the University of Portland, the University of Richmond, and Harvey Mudd College were present in person or via the state-of-the-art digital classroom located in Stevenson Hall. Attending students were able to meet with the faculty mentor of their research interest by one of those two platforms.

After returning home, the students will continue to work on their individual projects and will be invited back to the 9th annual Symposium on Biomathematics and Ecology Education and Research (BEER) to disseminate their results or progress reports.

During IBA-CURE the visiting students were given a tour of Illinois State’s campus, treated to a bowling competition, and engaged in a fierce battle of faculty versus students soccer match—a longstanding tradition of our biomathematics program.