PhD in Mathematics

Doctoral students join a lively community of faculty, postdoctoral researchers and fellow students who generate new knowledge and apply it to complex practical problems. The department admits only a handful of new doctoral students annually, and all are fully funded, so the group of candidates stays small. Students are encouraged to collaborate with researchers inside the department and elsewhere on campus. Interests can run from pure mathematics to applications in biomedical engineering, computational biology, bioinformatics, data science and electrical and computer engineering. The curriculum is flexible, letting students tailor research and study to career aims. They pick courses from the mathematical sciences and other fields, and may complete a project with an outside sponsor to link theory with practical uses. Training in teaching, grant writing, interviews and the job hunt is offered as well. Credit requirements depend on prior degrees: ninety semester hours after a bachelor's and sixty after a master's. At least thirty hours are devoted to dissertation research, and candidates must be in full-time residence for one continuous academic year.