GFS’ Junior Projects open so many pathways for our students. During the month of January, some juniors discover new career possibilities or an industry they’re not familiar with. Others use their projects to take deeper dives into passions they’ve been cultivating or projects they’ve independently started. Whichever shape their project takes, this month-long break from regular classes allows for students to explore learning opportunities outside of campus, and exemplifies the school’s value of embracing the city. 

Linus Chen-Plotkin '26 spent his Junior Project doing scientific research at the University of Pennsylvania, under the guidance of Professor Dani S. Bassett. The work was a continuation of a project he began last summer, using math to understand patterns of predictability in classical music. He dedicated his time in January to continuing his research, while also drafting a paper. Learn more about Linus’ experience through photos and snippets of his day-to-day activities:

This December, the Basset lab moved into Amy Gutmann Hall [at 33rd and Chestnut Streets in University City]. The space is very nice, but for the first two weeks of my Junior Project, the interior of the building was not yet complete. 

Once I get to work at around 9 a.m., the first order of business is coffee. The simple ritual of making myself a latte is a perfect way to begin each day, and I have seen my barista skills improve significantly over the past month. 

Then, I get to work. Here is a photo of my desk.

I write my paper in LaTeX, using Overleaf. LaTeX is a typesetting language that allows you to efficiently write math equations. Overleaf is like Google Docs, but for mathematicians. It allows you to comment and edit within a shared document.

Around noon, the lab eats lunch together. On Thursdays, we usually go out to get food from a food truck. On other days of the week, I make ham and cheese sandwiches, with bread, ham, and cheese I buy from the Giant across the street.
 

I meet with Professor Bassett once every one or two weeks, depending upon their availability. I have also been working with a physics graduate student named Suman Kulkarni. Here is what I wrote on the whiteboard in a meeting with Suman. I was showing the definition of a mixture transition distribution model, a statistical model that I apply to notes in musical pieces. 

I leave Guttman Hall at around 5 p.m. to go home and eat dinner with my family. Some nights, I stay up late programming. I find it easiest to code when I am tired and edit the next day. I also work on the weekends to a lesser extent. This schedule may seem overly intense, but I really love the research.

Here is a preliminary figure. It shows that Mozart sonatas are less predictable note-to-note than Beethoven, Haydn, and Schubert sonatas.

This project is fun for me because I love math and I love music. In fact, I perform almost every week at a blues bar called the Twisted Tail [pictured above]. I have also been learning to play the piano during my Junior Project, inspired by the classical composers I am researching.