Manual for a Stand-Alone CURE (Course-Based Undergraduate Research Experience)

Undergraduate research experiences (UREs) have become more demanded and more common. In recent years, various methodologies in different subjects have been developed and tested. Recent papers, books, and conference proceedings document how these methodologies are successful and how UREs help students stay motivated, prepare for the workforce and better choose their majors among other benefits, while also having benefits for professors, institutions, and employers. Despite the abundance of such methodologies and studies, relatively few are in Mathematics, and even fewer are about a stand-alone Course-based Undergraduate Research Experience (CURE). This paper presents a road map for developing and running a successful stand-alone CURE in Mathematics and backs it with data, learnings, and samples from the experience of running it for 3 consecutive years, ending in May 2024. It can be seen as a short manual for others to replicate the experience at their institution. The methodology presented here has allowed students to work on and solve open problems in Mathematics and Applied Mathematics (including Statistics, Business, etc.), disseminate their results in posters, oral presentations and papers, has attracted attention from employers, colleges and universities, government, media and other stakeholders, and has earned its NSF award.