Student Scholars

Undergraduate Alliance Scholars are undergraduate students in the math sciences who are nominated to be Scholars by our Alliance Undergraduate Mentors. Alliance Scholars are underserved or underrepresented math science majors who wish to pursue a doctoral degree in a math science or other quantitative field.

Benefits:

• Undergraduate Alliance Scholars will be paired with at least one Alliance Graduate Mentor through the Mentor Match program and, where possible, a Graduate Alliance Scholar, thus, together with the student’s undergraduate mentor, forming a mentoring team for the student. This team will keep in touch, on an informal basis, with the student and with each other, these contacts increasing as the student gets closer to graduation.
• Undergraduate Alliance Scholars are eligible for the Alliance Summer Research Experiences, the Alliance Activity Scholarships, and the Alliance Fall Conference (read more about Alliance programs here).

Graduate Alliance Scholars are students who had been Undergraduate Alliance Scholars and who have entered graduate programs. (These programs do not have to be in Alliance departments, and they do not have to be in a math science.) We stay in touch with these students, using our website as well as other means, and we work to keep them in touch with each other. If these students are enrolled in Alliance graduate programs, then we include them in all local Alliance activities and will ask them to serve as mentors to our Undergraduate Alliance Scholars. We also keep in touch with them as they finish their doctoral degrees and enter the professoriate or other professions and will ask them to help in building our growing community.

To become an Alliance Scholar you must be nominated by an Alliance Undergraduate Mentor. If you are nominated by an Alliance Undergraduate Mentor to attend the Alliance summer REU or Alliance Conference, you will automatically become an Alliance Scholar. If you would just like to apply to be an Alliance Scholar (without applying to the programs right away), please speak with an Alliance Undergraduate Mentor about nominating you! We will just need them to send in a letter of recommendation.

*If you attend a college or university that serves a high percentage of underrepresented students in the math sciences and do not have an Alliance Undergraduate Mentor, please consider talking with a faculty member about becoming an Alliance Undergraduate Mentor; they may then nominate you. Please also send us (mathalliance@uiowa.edu) their contact information-the Alliance Director, Phil Kutzko, will get in touch with them.

Once you are an Alliance Scholar, you will be eligible to apply to all of our Alliance Programs, so please check our website often for opportunities.