Research Areas
The department is close-knit, featuring regular seminars in which faculty, visitors, and graduate students share their knowledge on latest developments. Students are urged to become involved in these seminars as soon as possible. We try to encourage an atmosphere wherein mathematics is of central importance and is discussed openly and often. We regard graduate students as companions on our mathematical journey; each student is important to us.
Our faculty is active in research, publishing widely and lecturing nationally and internationally. We divide our research into two areas:
- Core areas are subjects in which our faculty have already done substantial research.
- Focus areas are subjects our faculty are interested in, and which may influence the kind of core research that is done. A focus area may eventually become a core area.
Core Areas
- Differential Equations and Mathematical Physics
- Differential Geometry and Geometric Analysis
- Dynamical Systems and Ergodic Theory
- Numerical Analysis
- Probability and Statistics
- Topology (especially continuum theory)
Focus Areas
- Inverse Problems
- Mathematical Modeling
- Mathematical Biology
Research Opportunities for Ph.D. Students
Doctoral students learn a fairly broad spectrum of pure and applied mathematics, and also take an outside minor relating their area of interest to an applied area such as computer science, physics or biostatistics. The department has extensive outside grant support that funds research and doctoral work. Students on fellowships have a reduced service load, allowing for a stronger focus on research.
Ph.D. students can expect to interact not only with our faculty but with the greater mathematical world. We encourage attendance at professional meetings, and also encourage interaction with faculty at other universities across the U.S. and abroad. There are funds available for travel to conferences.