This highly readable book aims to ease the many challenges of starting undergraduate research.
It accomplishes this by presenting a diverse series of self-contained accessible articles
which include specific open problems and prepare the reader to tackle them with ample
background material and references. Each article also contains a carefully selected
bibliography for further reading.The content spans the breadth of mathematics including many
topics that are not normally addressed by the undergraduate curriculum (such as matroid theory
mathematical biology and operations research) yet have few enough prerequisites that the
interested student can start exploring them under the guidance of a faculty member. Whether
trying to start an undergraduate thesis embarking on a summer REU or preparing for graduate
school this book is appropriate for a variety of students and the faculty who guide them.
