Maple Scholars: Fair Division and Cooperative Game Theory

The Goshen College Maple Scholars Program engages undergraduate students in eight weeks of research in a variety of disciplines. The Mathematical Association of America SUMMA Program will sponsor four Maple Scholars from underrepresented groups to engage in research on the mathematics of fair division and cooperative games.

The program will run June 13 to August 4, 2005 on the campus of Goshen College. Students will live rent-free on campus and receive a stipend of $3,500. Additional money will be available to pay for participants to attend and present their work at a professional meeting.

The Research

By collaborating, several cities can save money on upgrading their water treatment facilities. What is a fair way of allocating the savings? Several people have inherited an estate, but they differ in their opinions about the worth of each item in the estate. What is a fair way of allocating the estate? Different sportswriters have different rankings for college football teams. What is a fair way of melding these different opinions into a single ranking ordering? In these situations, do the agents involved have incentives for stating their true costs, valuations, or rankings? In this research, students develop a mathematical model of a situation, define fairness properties, suggest allocation methods, and determine whether suggested allocation methods satisfy the defined fairness properties. Additional detail can be found here and by contacting David Housman (see below).

Eligibility

Applicants must be U.S. citizens or permanent residents who fully intend to become U.S. citizens after the requisite waiting period, must be enrolled in a college or university (i.e., entering your sophomore, junior, or senior year after completing our summer program), and must be African American, Latino American, American Indian, or Native Pacific Islanders.

To Apply

Applicants should send:

1) A one-page letter of intent stating career goals and how this experience will help meet these goals. Include the following additional information: your name, address, phone number, e-mail address, and citizenship status; the name of the college or university you currently attend; your ethnicity from among African American, Latino American, Native American, or Native Pacific Islanders; a list of mathematics courses you have completed or in which you are currently enrolled, and the names and email addresses of the two individuals providing letters of recommendation.

2) an official college transcript; and

3) two letters of recommendation, at least one from a mathematician.

APPLICATIONS WILL BE ACCEPTED AS LONG AS POSITIONS ARE AVAILABLE AND WILL BE REVIEWED AS RECEIVED.

Send applications to David Housman, Mathematics Department, Goshen College, 1700 South Main Street, Goshen, IN 46526-4794, telephone 574-535-7405, fax 574-535-7509, email dhousman@goshen.edu.