As a consequence, the two institutes were again successful in the competition. Both made changes in their programs to include interdisciplinary research as part of their mission. The newly funded program, the Institute for Pure and Applied Mathematics at UCLA, has as its primary mission promoting research across mathematical boundaries and across scientific boundaries. One of the goals of this program is to make careers in mathematics more attractive to American students. It proposes a model for interaction similar to that of the lab sciences within a mathematics department.
Funding is provided for undergraduate research or internships.
Opportunities should be provided for undergraduates to be nurtured and encouraged to pursue careers in mathematics. Another emphasis of the program is graduate student support. If funding is available for mathematics students, as it is in the other sciences, then students will not have to do so much teaching. This will allow students the ability to complete their degrees within five years. Over 80 people attended the celebration, held in the Great Hall of the National Academy of Sciences and organized by former SIAM and AMS presidents Margaret Wright and Kathleen Morawetz.