Prior to departure, the NSF international scholars will participate in both mathematical and cultural orientations. Their mathematical orientation will begin at St. Olaf during the spring prior to the summer scholarship through focused background reading and discussion of pertinent research papers with one of the two co-PIs; it will also consist of a crash course in LaTeX, a word processing program designed for typesetting mathematical research papers. Cultural preparation will be provided by the college's International and Off-Campus Studies (IOS) Office, which will arrange country-specific study-abroad orientation as part of its extensive preparations of the many St. Olaf students who study abroad.
Students will travel to the partner institutions during the first week of June, where they will be met by representatives of the real analysis research group, taken to their university-sponsored housing and given a local orientation. As a visiting scholar, the students will have access to all university facilities. On-campus orientation will be organized by the host Mathematical Institute and will include introductions to the faculty, students and staff of the real analysis research group.