Participants, faculty, and staff of the 2022 EDGE Summer Program. Photo courtesy of Nicola Kirkham.

Amy Oden, EDGE Foundation Associate Director of Programs and Grants

On a scorching day in Oxford, a group of 14 women spill through St. Johns College, swapping undergraduate stories and strategizing for their algebra and real analysis courses. Though they met less than a week ago, they have formed a connection that will carry them through a month of intensive math and the rest of their professional careers.

These students comprise the 2022 cohort of the Enhancing Diversity in Graduate Education (EDGE) Summer Program, designed for women about to enter PhD programs in the mathematical sciences. Now in its 25th year, EDGE has reached a milestone by hosting a program not based in the US.

From left: Laura Mora and peer mentor Sofía Martínez discuss an EDGE homework problem. Photo courtesy of the EDGE Foundation.

EDGE students will complete accelerated courses in algebra, real analysis, machine learning, and measure theory, working together to complete rigorous problem sets and prepare a textbook for future use. They will also attend colloquia featuring notable mathematicians from Oxford University such as Ulrike Tilmann, Helen Byrne, and Xenia de la Ossa; participate in a probability mini-course; and prepare individual presentations.

This year’s participants, dubbed EDGErs, hail from across the United States, Poland, and Ghana. Following the program, they will enter 12 graduate programs across the US and UK, studying applied and pure mathematics, statistics, and operations research.

The EDGE Summer Program is hosted at Oxford this year with the support of Heather Harrington, a Royal Society University Research Fellow at the Mathematical Institute in Oxford and EDGE alumna. A 2020 recipient of the Philip Leverhulme Prize, Harrington designated a portion of her prize funds to partially support the 2022 program. The American Statistical Association has supported the previous three programs; this year, they are an EDGE lead sponsor.

EDGE participant Amanda Hernandez works through her homework on the whiteboards of the Oxford Mathematical Institute. Photo courtesy of the EDGE Foundation.

Founded in 1998 by Sylvia Bozeman, professor emerita at Spelman College, and Rhonda Hughes, professor emerita at Bryn Mawr, EDGE was designed to increase the number of women who thrive in leadership roles in the mathematical sciences. Throughout the program, EDGErs build the skills and support network necessary to thrive in graduate school and beyond. More than 90 percent of all alumni have either earned advanced degrees or are still in school.

Learn more about EDGE and view a list of 2022 participants.