sunil

Student Spotlight with Ph.D. Candidate Sunil Giri

Sunil Giri is a Ph.D. candidate in Mathematics who plans on graduating Fall 2020. Sunil successfully defended his dissertation in July, which is titled “Infection Age Structured Vector Borne Disease Model with Direct Transmission,” He works with associate professor, Necibe Tuncer, Ph.D., who serves as his advisor.

Area of Research

My research is in the field of applied mathematics, specifically, the modeling of infectious diseases at the population level using Ordinary Differential Equations or Partial Differential Equations.

During my graduate studies in Florida Atlantic University, I became interested in biological and medical applications of mathematical modeling using partial differential equations. Using mathematical tools, we analyze the infectious disease models to answer the following questions: How fast the disease spreads? How much of the total population is infected or will be infected? Under what conditions will the disease become an endemic in the population? Does the disease persist? What are the control measures to eradicate the disease? The principal tool used in mathematical epidemiology is the compartmental model where the total population is partitioned into different compartments and the number of compartments depends upon disease dynamics.

The FAU Experience

At first, I would like to extend thanks to the Department of Mathematical Sciences for providing me with the opportunity to pursue my Ph.D., and for providing me with much needed financial support. I am also thankful to the graduates students in the department for their friendly and helping nature. FAU has a diversified student and faculty population. This has helped everyone to understand other perspectives.

Recognizing Support Along the Way

First, working with my advisor Dr. Tuncer has helped me to sharpen my research ideas and grow as a researcher. She has enlightened me and help to recognize my research potential. Her dynamism, vision and motivation have deeply inspired me in my research work. The opportunity to work as research assistant funded by an NSF Grant, DMS 151544, with Dr. Tuncer has had an enormous impact on my ability to begin and complete my research work. The Department of Mathematical Sciences, FAU, and the Graduate and Professional Student Association have provided me with travel funding in numerous occasion to attend several local, regional, and national conferences.

Plans After Graduating

I have accepted an offer for the position of assistant professor at South Western Oklahoma State University in Weatherford, Oklahoma. My duties there will be to teach math courses and to work with students who engage in undergraduate research.

Advice for Students Just Getting Started in Graduate School or Undergraduate Research

FAU has a very innovative caring and learning environment. Give and do your very best. Mathematical modeling of infectious diseases is a highly demanded research area in today’s world. The Department of Mathematical Science has outstanding professors and instructors like Dr. Necibe Tuncer in this area and many interesting fields. Dr. Tuncer’s knowledge, dynamism and vision have always motivated me to sharpen my research ideas in this field.