******** RULES FOR TERM PAPER IN 550.391 DYNAMICAL SYSTEMS *********

1. The term paper must report on a published research paper in any area of 
science, which employs dynamical-systems concepts and methods from the 
course. This is a report only: no original work is expected or required.

2. The scientific background of the dynamical models developed in 
the paper should be clearly described, intelligible to a general 
science reader (namely, the instructor!)

3. All mathematical analysis in the paper using concepts and methods 
taught in the course (fixed points, linearization, nullclines, bifurcation 
classification, Poincare-Bendixson theorem, Lyapunov exponents, etc.)
should be explained and elaborated.

4. All numerical results of the paper must be reproduced which can be done 
so using the matlab codes provided in the course. 

5. The paper should have a length consistent with the above requirements,
but at least 20 pages. As the paper is worth a substantial fraction of the 
course grade, high quality and signs of significant effort are expected. 

6. Term papers are due on the final day of class. Hard copies of the 
research article that is reported on must also be included, as well as 
printouts of any codes used for numerical work. 

7. Candidate research papers MUST be pre-approved for reports by the 
course instructor (Gregory Eyink). Electronic copies may be e-mailed 
to him, or paper copies submitted for review. 

It is a good idea to begin to look for possible research papers after 
the first midterm. The bibliography of the course textbook by Strogatz
is an excellent source of possible papers. You may also find helpful
on-line search engines such as Google Scholar

              http://scholar.google.com/
   
to locate papers by searching on key words that reflect your own interests
(e.g. "dynamical systems" + "oncology"). You may also search on papers 
by author, title, etc. and find papers which cite a given paper, related
articles, etc. Come to see the course instructor for help if you are 
experiencing any difficulty.