Undergraduate study

Overview

• Sympathetic tutorial support system
• Excellent staff-student ratio
• A modern IT environment
• Mathematics ranked 2nd in the UK in the 2012 National Student Survey for overall satisfaction and 10th in the 2013 Guardian University Guide.

Mathematics is of fundamental importance in a modern society. It has well established and rapidly developing applications in business, economics, management, science, technology and medicine, but the importance of the discipline is increasingly being recognised in, for example, law, politics, sport, ecology, psychology and sociology. Moreover, mathematical ideas contribute significantly to conceptual understanding and debate, both in everyday life and in research. Notwithstanding its usefulness, the discipline is an intrinsically attractive fields of study, which gives rise to a host of elegant and enduring results and intellectually challenging problems.

The Single Honours course is flexible in that students may elect to study a broad range of topics in pure, applied and statistical mathematics, or they may choose to specialise in their preferred areas of interest in mathematics in their third year.

Whilst most of the course is delivered by means of lectures and problem-solving classes, we recognise that IT is having a significant impact on the teaching, learning and practice of mathematics. We are therefore equipped with our own computing laboratory with a range of sophisticated software of the type used by professional mathematicians and statisticians. These facilities are available throughout the programme and are intended to stimulate and motivate both insight and comprehension. In addition, we now use IT extensively in our delivery of material and provision of feedback and support.

Students arrive at University from a range of mathematical backgrounds. Although many will have studied some statistics or mechanics at A-level, specific knowledge of neither area is assumed. A deliberate effort is made to effect a smooth transition to university-level study. In particular, within the tutoring system, support is available for consolidating mathematical capability. There are also diagnostic testing facilities that are designed to assist new students with suitable preparation for the course.

Mathematics is particularly proud of its reputation for both the academic and pastoral care of its students. Staff members are concerned for, and responsive to, the needs of their students. An active Staff-Student Liaison Committee provides a regular forum for constructive debate on how the quality of our teaching might be further improved.

Course Content

Students on the Single Honours programme take a total of seven or eight modules in Mathematics in the first year and eight in subsequent years. The modules in the first two years provide a broad-based foundation for more specialised studies in the third.

First year

The first year comprises of the following modules:

Two modules on Calculus, which cover essential techniques and results in an explanation-orientated way, in contrast to A- Level

Two modules on Algebra, the first of which introduces the need for rigour in Mathematics and develops the ability to construct logical arguments, and the second of which covers linear algebra and linear programming.

Computational Mathematics, including numerical methods.

Analysis, the study of the infinitely small and infinitely large.

Geometry, including Euclidean and non-Euclidean geometry OR

Applicable Mathematics.

The Calculus modules are supported by a computer-based component that provides on-line tutorials and further practice on essential techniques. Students are encouraged to learn the state-of-the-art Mathematica symbolic manipulation software package, and to use it in later modules.

Finally, there are two elective modules, Making Sense of Statistics, which is open to Single Honours Mathematics students and Mathematical Methods which is designed to help those students who feel they require more background.

Second year

The second year builds on the first year modules, and presents more advanced ideas in pure mathematics and applied mathematics, and probability/statistics.

In the Autumn Semester students take the compulsory modules:

Differential Equations
Abstract Algebra
Probability

Plus one module from:

Linear Algebra
Numerical Methods
Operational Research

In the Spring Semester, students take the following modules:

Complex Variable I and Vector Calculus
Mathematical Modelling

Plus two modules from:

Metric Spaces
Dynamics
Linear Statistical Models
Stochastic Processes

Third year

In the third and final year there is considerable choice, subject to timetabling and prerequisite constraints. Students study a total of eight option modules according to their interests. The topics available vary from year to year but are likely to include:

Group Theory
Graph Theory
Logic
Codes and Cryptography
Non-linear Differential Equations
Partial Differential Equations
Fluids
Waves
Complex Variable II
Relativity
Numerical Analysis
Mathematical Biology
Number Theory
Ring and Field Theory
Probability Models
Medical Statistics
Professional Mathematics

One final year module may take the form of a project on an approved topic.

Example titles have included:

Fourier Series
Geometric Constructions – Impossibility Proofs and Regular Polygons
An Introduction to Chaos
A Steady State Wind-driven Ocean Circulation Model
Management of Cholesterol Levels in General Practice
Crime Statistics
The Optimal Phasing of Traffic Signals
Software for Unconstrained Optimisation

Codes and Combinations

All students who study a science subject are candidates for the degree of Bachelor of Science (with Honours) (BSc Hons).

Single Honours and Foundation course available:

Teaching and Assessment

In the first two years most modules involve, each week, three lectures and a problem-solving class. Delivery of third year modules is more flexible, owing to the smaller size of the groups, but normally involves three contact hours per week. We pay careful attention to the attendance and individual progress of our students.  In the first year, a typical module will be assessed by coursework or class tests (or both) which will usually count for 30% of the final module award, together with a two hour examination usually counting for 60%, the extra 10% being given as credit for participation in problem-solving classes. In the second and third years the typical pattern is 20% for coursework/class tests and 80% final examination.

Programme specifications (new window)

Skills and Careers

The Single Honours course in Mathematics provides a combination of knowledge and skills that is in high demand from employers in many sectors. As well as gaining specific expertise related to the course content, students will have been developing both the logical and analytical thinking that characterises mathematicians, and the mix of judgement, sound theory and sensitivity to data that epitomises statisticians. Additionally, the course is a suitable platform for postgraduate study.

Some of the career opportunities open to well-qualified graduates from the course include scientific and medical research, the City, the civil service, research and development in industry, management consultancy, finance, the actuarial profession, software houses and education. More particularly, mathematical facility, together with proficiency in the use of statistical software, leaves students equipped for work as practising statisticians. Our graduates have very high employment rates.

Visit our Careers pages (new window)

Mathematics ranked 2nd in the UK in the 2012 National Student Survey for overall satisfaction, and 10th in the Guardian University Guide 2013.

Course Regulations

Maths Prospectus.pdf