When describing a topic in your research field to someone who knows nothing about the field, it is important to share a common language. When using a common language, you should refrain from using ambiguous amounts of jargon unless it is necessary to use it to describe the topic in the research you are conducting. As my project is based on mathematics, it can be hard to explain theoretical concepts without a simpler explanation as some of them involve the use of advanced mathematical terminology, which could be considered a type of jargon.
The background and purpose of research are important concepts to describe to an audience. As you explain the background of your research project, the audience will get a generalized idea of how your topic can be advanced from past research. In addition, the purpose of your project will be to describe what the researcher wants to find while conducting their research. For instance, my research project is based on the simplification of moves to solve a Rubik’s cube. When I describe to other Brackenridge Fellowship recipients how this research is possible, I explain how the Rubik’s cube uses permutations (a group theory concept) to determine the order of the cube’s pieces after a specific movement.
Moreover, it is important to describe the significance of your research. The significance of the research is usually the outcome of the research that you conducted. Typically, research is significant when it can either be applied to another topic or can be expanded upon in the same topic. With my Rubik’s cube project, I discovered that some of the algorithms that I used were long and complicated to memorize. By recognizing this, I can create an algorithm and patterns with simpler moves in the Rubik’s cube that can not only be easier to solve but could make it easier for people to learn. For a potential research project, I had thought of expanding this project by implying the algorithms of a 2×2 Rubik’s into a 3×3 Rubik’s cube to find if it could be easier to solve.
Currently, my professional goals are to expand my education to the graduate level after I complete my Bachelor’s in two years and to get a job doing either mathematical research or data analytics. To pursue these goals, I feel that I will be interacting/collaborating with researchers of many disciplines, but mostly in STEM as it is a popular research field in today’s time. Before completing my undergraduate, I feel talking with internship coordinators and working with them will allow me to understand how my mathematical skills can be applied to real-world businesses/corporations. Lastly, being in the Brackenridge Fellowship has allowed me to work with other disciplines and realize that mathematics can be helpful in some fields of research, depending on if the research needs to be supported through qualitative, quantitative, or both types of information.