Math 197 guidelines

I get numerous requests from UCSD students for supervision of Math 197 external internships. Since my department does not currently provide any guidelines for this, I've put together my own guidelines; please confirm that you have read these before requesting supervision.

Note: the Department of Mathematics is developing a more structured version of Math 197, modeled on CSE 197, to be introduced in summer 2025. Watch this space for more details.

What to do beforehand

• Confirm the internship with your external employer (I don't need any documentation at this point).
• Send me a short proposal (1 page or so) describing the internship and how it relates to your course of study. Ideally you should relate your project to courses that you either have taken or plan to take at UCSD.
• Schedule an in-person or Zoom meeting to go over the proposal. This should take no more than 15 minutes.
• Submit an EASy (Enrollment Authorization System) request to enroll in Math 197 with me as the supervisor (at this point you should attach documentation from your external employer).

What to do during the internship

• Stay in touch! Send me periodic updates about your work; barring an emergency, every other week or so should suffice.
• UCSD holds me responsible for "assuring that the student receives proper safety training and works in a safe environment". If this safety is ever in doubt, please email me immediately.
• Start thinking about how you will document your work (see below).

What to do afterward

• Prepare some documentation of what you did. This can take one of various formats, including a short writeup (1-2 pages) or a GitHub repository that I can access via my account.
• Do not include any material that your employer considers proprietary!