Midshipmen Research

Which Midshipmen are Doing Research? 

Most SMA/SMO/SMP majors doing research are honors students, Bowman Scholars, or Trident Scholars. There are clear pathways to having research count for credit for these programs, and each program comes with an expectation of completing a research project with one or more faculty advisers. This page is primarily provided with those students in mind. It may also be feasible for motivated midshipmen to work with faculty on research outside of those programs, which in some cases may be approved to fulfill capstone requirements; this is for the midshipman and faculty adviser to decide.

Finding an Adviser

Starting is the hardest part. You don't need to have a brilliant idea before you talk to potential advisers. The best strategy is to talk to instructors you already know, whether military or civilian.  Ask about their research interests and also ask them for advice on potential advisers. If you liked a class, email that professor to set up a time to talk or swing by their office hours. Faculty members generally enjoy the opportunity to speak with midshipmen about potential research projects and will not be upset at all if you ultimately end up working with somebody else.

What to say: You don't need to be an expert. Just say, "I am interested in doing research. What sorts of problems do you think about?  Do you know of any colleagues who are taking on students?"  Most faculty members are active in research and will be happy to chat with you at your level, referring you to others in the department if you mention particular interests.

The "Cold Email": You can find advisers from your own experiences in classes, through recommendations from faculty members or midshipmen, or from faculty member websites. If you've discovered a faculty member who might be doing work that interests you but you don't know them, go ahead a send a brief email!  Be sure to include your major and your year in school and ask for a short meeting to learn more about their research area. At worst, they'll let you know that they are not currently taking on research students but might suggest some colleague(s) working on similar problems.  

Potential Faculty Advisers

The following is a non-exhaustive list of potential research advisers.  For a complete directory of civilian and military faculty within the Mathematics Department, please visit our Faculty Directory. 

• • Prof. Adelgren adelgren@usna.edu (Optimization, Scheduling, Machine Learning)
  • Prof. Archer archer@usna.edu (Combinatorics)
  • CDR Barkley pbarkley@usna.edu (Decentralized Optimization for UxVs, Stochastic Programming, Scheduling)
  • Prof. Bates dbates@usna.edu (Optimization, Numerical Algebraic Geometry)
  • Prof. Becker jpbecker@usna.edu (Optimization, Routing, Simulation, Sports Analytics)
  • Prof. Craig wcraig@usna.edu (Number Theory)
  • Prof. Duong-Tran duongtra@usna.edu (Deep Learning, NeuroAI, multimodal NLP)
  • CDR Geary geary@usna.edu (Combinatorics, Cryptography)
  • Prof. Hoffman meh@usna.edu (Algebraic combinatorics, Special functions)
  • Prof. Hottovy hottovy@usna.edu (Stochastic Differential Equations)
  • Prof. Hudson jlhudson@usna.edu (Differential Equation, Data Assimilation, Machine Learning)
  • Prof. Ionescu ionescu@usna.edu (Fractal Analysis, Differential Equations on Fractals and Operator Algebras)
  • Prof. Jones jonesb@usna.edu (Optimization, Graph Theory)
  • Prof. Kenter kenter@usna.edu (Graph Theory, Game Theory)
  • Prof. Laudone laudone@usna.edu (Combinatorics, Representation Theory)
  • CAPT Lazzaro lazzaro@usna.edu (Optimal Defense, Attack and Operations of Networks)
  • Prof. Liakos liakos@usna.edu (Numerical Analysis, Computational Fluid Dynamics, Dynamical Systems)
  • Prof. Lourenco lourenco@usna.edu (Optimization, Computational Linear Algebra)
  • Prof. Magsino magsino@usna.edu (Harmonic Analysis, Signal & Image Processing, Data Science, Machine Learning)
  • Prof. Margulies margulie@usna.edu (Cryptography, Mathematics of Machine Learning, Duality)
  • Prof. Melles cgg@usna.edu (Combinatorics)
  • Prof. Medynets medynets@usna.edu (Topological Dynamics, Ergodic Theory, Analysis, Geometric Group Theory)
  • Prof. Minut minut@usna.edu (Applied/Pure Mathematics: Math Biology, ODEs, PDEs)
  • Prof. Nguyen vnguyen@usna.edu (homological algebra, Hopf algebras, representation theory)
  • Prof. Nguelifack nguelifa@usna.edu (Statistics, Machine Learning, Large Language Model (LLM))
  • Prof. Park jpark@usna.edu (Applied Statistics, Point Processes, Evolutionary Algorithms)
  • Prof. Passer passer@usna.edu (Functional Analysis, C*-Algebras, Operator Theory)
  • Prof. Perini perini@usna.edu (Optimization, Multicriteria Decision Making)
  • CDR Petri petri@usna.edu (Agent-Based Models and Parameterization)
  • Prof. Popovici popovici@usna.edu (Theory of Dynamical Systems, Analysis)
  • Prof. Salem jsalem@usna.edu (Optimization, Graph Theory, Online Learning)
  • Prof. Skipper skipper@usna.edu (Optimization)
  • Prof. Soane  soane@usna.edu (Applied Mathematics)
  • Prof. Svirsko svirsko@usna.edu (Optimization, Simulation)
  • Prof. Thompson kthomps@usna.edu (Number Theory)
  • Prof. Traves traves@usna.edu (Data Science, Geometry)
  • Prof. Uhan uhan@usna.edu (Optimization, Game Theory, Scheduling)
  • Prof. VanDerwerken vanderwe@usna.edu (Statistics)
  • Prof. Wakefield wakefiel@usna.edu (Algebraic Combinatorics)
  • Prof. Zarikian zarikian@usna.edu (Analysis, Topology, C* Algebras)