{"id":1079,"date":"2017-03-20T17:54:29","date_gmt":"2017-03-20T17:54:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/commons.trincoll.edu\/facultyhighlights\/?p=1079"},"modified":"2017-03-20T17:54:29","modified_gmt":"2017-03-20T17:54:29","slug":"per-sebastian-skardal-and-summer-research-students-co-author-paper","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/commons.trincoll.edu\/facultyhighlights\/2017\/03\/20\/per-sebastian-skardal-and-summer-research-students-co-author-paper\/","title":{"rendered":"Per Sebastian Skardal and Summer Research Students Co-Author Paper"},"content":{"rendered":"

A research paper co-authored by Trinity College Assistant Professor of Mathematics Per Sebastian Skardal<\/a> and summer research students Mariam Avagyan \u201918 and Shufan Wang \u201918 was published recently in the online journal Applied Network Science<\/em><\/a>. Avagyan, who is from Yerevan, Armenia, is pursuing a double major in mathematics and engineering, with a concentration in electrical. Wang, from Zheng Zhou City, He Nan Province, China, is majoring in mathematics.<\/p>\n

\"Trinity<\/a>

Mariam Avagyan \u201918 and Shufan Wang \u201918 present their summer science research in July 2016. Photo by John Atashian.<\/p><\/div>\n

The research paper, titled \u201cEvolving network structure of academic institutions,\u201d<\/a> explores and illustrates the complex structures that dictate interactions between the administration, faculty, and student body at Trinity. Skardal, Avagyan, and Wang used the majors and minors of graduating students to track the changing relationships between different academic departments over time. The results, the researchers said in their paper, provide practical insights and applications for Trinity, and also serves as a general framework for colleges and universities to better understand their own structural makeup in order to better inform academic and administrative policy.<\/p>\n

The students lived on campus during the summer as they worked with Skardal throughout the research process as part of the Summer Science Research Program, offered through Trinity\u2019s Interdisciplinary Science Center<\/a>. (Click here <\/a>for a video about the Summer Science Research Program.) Skardal said, \u201cIt really gives the students a chance to use what they have learned in the classroom in a practical setting and learn about some cutting-edge mathematics and science.\u201d Skardal, who came to Trinity in 2015, added that he valued the knowledge of Trinity that Avagyan and Wang brought to the project.<\/p>\n

Avagyan first became interested in Skardal\u2019s work with fractals, dynamical systems, synchronization, and networks during one of the Math Department\u2019s colloquiums, where professors talk about their areas of research. An independent study with Skardal for Avagyan and Wang in the spring 2016 semester led to their summer research.<\/p>\n

Throughout the summer the group worked together on brand new applied mathematics and techniques. Skardal said one of the best aspects of working with Avagyan and Wang was their drive. \u201cThey were incredibly motivated the whole way,\u201d he said. When he was an undergraduate student at Boston College, Skardal had the opportunity to do some research in computer science and described it as a \u201cwonderful experience\u201d that encouraged him to offer the same opportunities to students at Trinity. \u201cIt sounds clich\u00e9, but teachers learn just as much from their students as students learn from teachers, and this is equally true in the context of research,\u201d said Skardal.<\/p>\n

Avagyan and Wang described Skardal as supportive and encouraging. Avagyan\u2019s time working with Skardal has even shaped her future aspirations. \u201cHe made me love applied math to the point that I want to continue my post-graduate studies in this area,\u201d she said. \u201cBeing credited as an author on a published study with a brilliant person and professor like him is an honor.\u201d<\/p>\n

Both Avagyan and Wang expressed appreciation for their experience and excitement for gaining authorship of the published paper. Wang, who is studying this semester at Dartmouth College to do more work in math modeling and machine intelligence as a part of the Twelve-College Exchange Program<\/a>, said, \u201cIt showed me what it is like to work in academia and led me into thinking about becoming a researcher.\u201d<\/p>\n

The students recommend summer research work to others at Trinity. Avagyan said, \u201cWorking with professors over the past two summers was the best thing I\u2019ve done at Trinity. It gave me a jump start in academic research as a first-year and helped me develop essential skills such as working in a team, solving a problem even though it seems to be impossible, working with established professors in the same lab, and more.\u201d<\/p>\n

Skardal also encourages Trinity professors to offer more research opportunities to students. \u201cIt is always fun to see our students \u2018graduate\u2019 to the point of taking on some really new, interesting problems outside of the typical classroom,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Written by Annelise Gilbert \u201917<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A research paper co-authored by Trinity College Assistant Professor of Mathematics Per Sebastian Skardal and summer research students Mariam Avagyan \u201918 and Shufan Wang \u201918 was published recently in the online journal Applied Network Science. Avagyan, who is from Yerevan, Armenia, is pursuing a double major in mathematics and engineering, with a concentration in electrical. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1424,"featured_media":1080,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[22],"tags":[318,321,16,20,83,319,320],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/commons.trincoll.edu\/facultyhighlights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1079"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/commons.trincoll.edu\/facultyhighlights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/commons.trincoll.edu\/facultyhighlights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/commons.trincoll.edu\/facultyhighlights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1424"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/commons.trincoll.edu\/facultyhighlights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1079"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/commons.trincoll.edu\/facultyhighlights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1079\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1081,"href":"http:\/\/commons.trincoll.edu\/facultyhighlights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1079\/revisions\/1081"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/commons.trincoll.edu\/facultyhighlights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1080"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/commons.trincoll.edu\/facultyhighlights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1079"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/commons.trincoll.edu\/facultyhighlights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1079"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/commons.trincoll.edu\/facultyhighlights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1079"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}