University partnerships add up to research, mentorship opportunities for students
Participants in the VT-Swiss Coding Theory & Cryptography Summer School at the Steger Center in Riva San Vitale, Switzerland. Photo courtesy of Julia Shapiro.
“At this career stage, making one really great connection could make all the difference,” said Julia Shapiro, a third year graduate student studying coding theory.
Shapiro was one of six Virginia Tech students to make connections between both people and academic disciplines at the VT-Swiss Coding Theory and Cryptography Summer School in July.
Organized and sponsored in part by the Virginia Tech Department of Mathematics and the Hume Center for National Security and Technology, the workshop brought together 64 researchers from universities around the world at the Steger Center in Riva San Vitale, Switzerland.
“Students don’t always make the connection between math and national security,” said Gretchen Matthews, director of the Commonwealth Cyber Initiative (CCI) Southwest Virginia node and an event organizer. “But math is integral to many of the pressing problems that face our national security and intelligence communities. Because of that, the math we’re working on is often inspired by national security applications or drives new applications.”
Matthews also a professor in the Virginia Tech Department of Mathematics, and the Steger Center is part of Virginia Tech Outreach and International Affairs.
Participating researchers were split into small groups and assigned projects in their field, but with new elements. The workshop grouped junior researchers with those who were more experienced and encouraged them to continue working on their topics beyond the workshop if it excited them.
“My group is actually already planning a meeting for this week to talk about our results and future meetings to talk about what else we can do with the problem,” said Evan Stosic, a graduate student studying cryptography. “The workshop was only a week, so we haven’t made too much progress yet, but now I have this group of people in my field to collaborate with that I never would have met otherwise.”
The workshop highlighted the long-standing relationship between the Department of Mathematics and the Hume Center, which works together to give Virginia Tech students opportunities in fields such as intelligence, machine learning, and quantum physics.
"A number of graduate students from the math department are working on sponsored research programs and fellowships at the Hume Center and the Virginia Tech National Security Institute," said Ehren Hill, associate director of education and outreach for the Hume Center. “These programs help them to get hands-on experience in niche research fields that they might not otherwise have access to.”
For Shapiro, the overseas workshop may have also foreshadowed a bit of her future.
“There aren’t that many people studying quantum right now because it’s still a really new field,” Shapiro said. “So it’s possible I may need to travel around the world to make the connections I need for my research, or for a postdoctorate or teaching position in the future.”
Julia Shapiro presenting to participants in the VT-Swiss Coding Theory & Cryptography Summer School at the Steger Center in Riva San Vitale, Switzerland. Photo courtesy of Julia Shapiro.
