Professional Development Resources for Graduate Students

Welcome to our resource site for current graduate students enrolled in the Rice Mathematics Ph.D program. You will find below information about professional organizations, summer programs, teaching resources, and more. Additional information will be added over time, and requests are most certainly welcomed!

Chris Leininger - Director of Graduate Studies

Greg Chambers - Graduate Admissions Co-Chair

Mathematical Associations and Organizations

• American Mathematical Society (AMS)
• Association for Women in Mathematics (AWM)
• Indigenous Mathematicians
• International Mathematical Union (IMU)
• Lathisms
• Mathematics Association of America (MAA)
• Mathematically Gifted & Black
• National Association of Mathematicians (NAM)
• Project NExT
• Society for Advancement of Chicanos/Hispanics & Native Americans in Science (SACNAS)
• Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics (SIAM)
• Spectra: The Association of LGBT Mathematicians

Academic Job Listings

• mathjobs.org (Main site for positions in North America)
• Job Sites by Country
• AMS Employment Listings and Resources

Careers in Business, Industry and Government (BIG)

The BIG Math Network is an excellent resource for pursuing careers in business, industry, and government. Their resources for students contains information about internships, resumes & interviews, coding skills, the job search process, and more.

The NSF Mathematical Sciences Graduate Internship
This paid program is intended to introduce doctoral students in mathematics to interesting applications of mathematical or statistical theories outside of academia. The internships are aimed at students who are interested in understanding the application of advanced mathematical and statistical techniques to "real world" problems, regardless of whether they plan to pursue an academic or nonacademic career. Students will receive a stipend and travel reimbursement and must be enrolled full-time as graduate student at a university located in the US during the academic year preceding the internship. The annual application deadline is January 31.

The IMA Math-to-Industry Bootcamp
This paid program is targeted at Ph.D. students in pure and applied mathematics. The boot camp consists of courses in the basics of programming, data analysis, and mathematical modeling. Students will work in teams on projects and will be provided with training in interview preparation. Students will receive a stipend and must be current graduate students in a Ph.D. program at a U.S. institution during the period of the boot camp. The annual application deadline is in early March.

Resources for BIG Interview Preparation

BIG Jobs Guide by Levy, Laugesen and Santosa
A compendium of guidance for students in the mathematical sciences who might be considering careers in business, industry, and government.

Glassdoor
Website with salary offers and interview details posted by interviewees, kind of like rumor mill for tech.

Leetcode
Website with practice interview coding problems. One of the subscription plans allows you to select the coding questions most frequently asked by big tech companies.

Grokking the System Design Interview
An online course covering system design interview questions.

Cracking the Coding Interview by Gayle Laakmann McDowell
A book of coding interview questions.

System Design Interview by Alex Xu
Another book of coding interview questions.

External Teaching Resources and Opportunities

• Bridge to Enter Advanced Mathematics (BEAM) (based in LA and NYC)
• Project NExT

AMS Notices Early Career Collection

The Early Career Collection of the AMS Notices contains a wide range of advice and practical tips for graduate students and other early career researchers. It is best used by simply searching for keywords of interest with your browser's 'find' feature (ctrl+F, command+F). Happy exploring!

Mental Health Resources

Along with our faculty being available for professional guidance, the Wellbeing and Counseling Center is available for wellbeing advising and for a variety of counseling services. You may use their resource matcher site or call 713-348-3311 (available 24/7) for further information.