M.A. Degree Students interested in teaching mathematics at the high school or community college level, or those who are interested in careers as consultants, actuaries, or data analysts should consider an M.A. in Mathematics. Ph.D. Degree Students who are planning an academic career, or those interested in senior-level project director roles in industry should consider a Ph.D. in Mathematics. The main steps in completing a Ph.D. degree are passing qualifying examinations and writing a dissertation. The qualifying examinations are taken in several parts. During the first year of full-time study, the student must pass the First Qualifying Examination, an exam on basic material from undergraduate algebra and analysis. During the second year, the student must pass a more advanced, but quite flexible exam based on courses at the 600 level and above. By the end of the third year, the student must pass another exam, the nature of which will vary from student to student, and depends primarily on the student's area of study and thesis advisor. The dissertation must consist of original research of sufficient quality to be published in a respectable mathematics journal. Upon completion of the second qualifying exam, the student will choose (in consultation with the director of graduate studies) a doctoral committee, the chair of which will direct the thesis research. Upon completion of the thesis, the student must pass a final oral examination administered by the department. Both the M.A. and the Ph.D. degrees have residency requirements: one year for the M.A. and two years for the Ph.D. The week before classes begin in August, all new M.A. and Ph.D. students must take the First Qualifying Examination. The syllabus for this exam is based on undergraduate analysis and algebra (including linear algebra). This exam is given before classes begin to enable the student and the director of graduate studies to refer to its results while deciding the most appropriate courses for the student. Sample First Qualifying Exams are posted at http://www.math.buffalo.edu/gr_firstqual.html Precise requirements for the Ph.D. degree are available online at http://www.math.buffalo.edu/gr_reqts_phd.html Certificate in Advanced Computational Science Computational Science is an emerging discipline, uniting ideas in mathematics and computer science together with applications arising in science and engineering. The University offers an Advanced Certificate in Computational Science to provide students at the University at Buffalo with training in advanced scientific computing in combination with specialized education in applied mathematics. Students wishing to pursue the Certificate must be admitted for graduate study in the Department. The Certificate requires a total of 15 hours of graduate coursework, and a two-semester course in High Performance Computing is required. The remaining nine hours consists of options chosen from computing and applications oriented mathematics courses. These courses must be approved by the Director of Graduate Studies and the Director of the Center for Computational Research. |
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