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DEPARTMENT OF MATHEMATICS
M.S. PROGRAM

[ Ph.D. Program | M.S. Program | Fast-Track Program |Department | UAB ]

Welcome

We are looking for students ready to accept a challenge. These pages will provide you with information about our M.S. program and supply you with all necessary information and materials needed for an application. Please see also the information on our Fast-Track program and our Ph.D. program. The table of contents below gives a first overview of the information provided.

This program aims to give students the background to use mathematics in a variety of ways. We train students in mathematical rigor. This provides training in the ability to analyze and solve problems in all walks of life. We also emphasize the development of communication skills of our students (in the classes they take as well as in the classes they teach). Therefore the M.S. program prepares students not only for a career in secondary or junior college level teaching but provides also a very good preparation for students who go into business, industry, or government. In the past our students have been very successful in obtaining employment. Of course, the M.S. program will also prepare students who wish to pursue a Ph.D. in Mathematics but whose undergraduate education did not provide them with a sufficient background in advanced mathematics.

Our View of Mathematics

Mathematics has been a human endeavor for millennia. It has always been driven by two sources: the intrinsic beauty of numbers, shapes, structures, and their interrelationships as well as the necessity to solve practical problems in fields as diverse as finance, atomic physics, and computer tomography. Mathematics has therefore always been divided into a pure and an applied branch. However, these have never been strictly separated. Almost all pure mathematics is related to problems which occur in applications, and almost all applied mathematics is based upon pure mathematics. Seismology, the main tool of engineers in oil and gas exploration, is mathematically described as an inverse problem in partial differential equations. Group theory has many applications in quantum mechanics and particle physics. Even number theory, which has long been considered to be the purest area of mathematics, plays nowadays an eminent role in cryptography, the study of codes, and is thus related, for example, to safe data transfer on the internet.

At UAB we are particularly interested in the connections between pure mathematics, mathematical physics, and dynamical systems.

Mathematical physics is the rigorous mathematical study of structures which occur in physics. It cannot be understood without a broad background in mathematics and at least an undergraduate level knowledge of physics. This area deals with such diverse topics as the study of atoms and molecules, the theory of relativity, the study of waves in crystals with impurities, or how to determine the internal structure of something from the way it scatters x-rays or ultrasound waves. These topics among others are studied in our department. Mathematical research areas of our department related to these topics include spectral theory, differential geometry, complex analysis and ordinary and partial differential equations.

A dynamical system is a mathematical description of the time evolution of something, e.g., a system of atoms and molecules, the financial market, the weather, or a population of some biological species. Usually this evolution depends on the previous state of the system (then called a deterministic system) but chance may also be involved. In the presence of nonlinearities even deterministic systems tend to behave in an unpredictable way. Therefore the field of dynamical systems is popularly known as ``chaos theory''. Dynamical systems appear virtually everywhere and a great many of mathematical instruments are used to tackle them. Areas of mathematical research in our department which relate to dynamical systems include ergodic theory, nonlinear partial differential equations, point set topology, complex analysis and topological and complex dynamics.

Admission Requirements

We welcome applications from students who have earned the equivalent of a bachelor's degree in Mathematics, the Sciences, or Engineering from an accredited academic institution, who have at least a B average in undergraduate work, and who have scored above 500 on each section of the Graduate Record Examination General Test. In our assessment of the qualifications of a student the letters of evaluation play an important role.

Degree Requirements

We offer two plans to obtain the M.S. degree. In Plan I the student has to prepare a thesis while Plan II provides a broader education via coursework. In either plan a student must satisfy the following requirement.

For Plan I (Thesis) the specific requirements are

For Plan II (Nonthesis) the specific requirements are

It takes usually less than 2 years to obtain the degree.

Curriculum

For a typical curriculum and the syllabi ofthe associated courses click here.

Financial Support

All applicants admitted to our graduate program will be considered for financial support. Teaching assistantships (TAs) and fellowships are available. A tuition award is also made to those holding graduate assistantships and the cost of student health insurance is covered. There remain some fees to be paid by the student. Opportunities are usually available for summer employment. All awards are made on a competitive basis.

As a teaching assistant a student will be assigned up to fifteen hours of service per week. The service (mostly teaching) will be such as to enhance a student's professional development as well as contribute to the operations of UAB.

For the year 2006/2007 TA stipends start at $18,000 per twelve months. They are available to US citizens as well as to international students. As mentioned above, in addition to the stipend a full tuition scholarship is also provided. M.S. students making satisfactory progress can expect support for the equivalent of four semesters and a summer term.

For the best qualified applicants we also offer MCTP and GAANN fellowships. MCTP fellowships, funded by a grant from the US National Science Foundation, provide $21,500 per year. The GAANN fellowships are funded by a grant from the US Department of Education. Depending on financial need they pay up to $30,000 per year. These fellowships are only available to US citizens and permanent residents.

UAB has also university-wide Minority Graduate Fellowships providing a $21,000 per year stipend plus tuition. Minority applicants are strongly encouraged to apply for those fellowships, and should contact the Mathematics Graduate Program Director or the UAB Graduate School for further information early in the application process.

The Department,Research Interests of the Faculty

Our department is a close-knit one, featuring many seminars in which both faculty and graduate students participate. In order to discuss what we do, it makes sense to distinguish between a "core area", in which the faculty has already done substantial research, and a "focus area" which may greatly influence the kind of core research which is done and which may eventually become a core area. Needless to say, the boundaries between these concepts are very fluid.

Core areas are:

Focus areas include:

There are regular seminars in which visitors frequently share their knowledge on latest developments. Our faculty is quite active in research, publishing widely and lecturing nationally and internationally. 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. To learn more about our department follow the links below.

About UAB and Birmingham

UAB is an urban university in Birmingham, Alabama, a dynamic, progressive urban center of great natural beauty. Birmingham is the largest city in Alabama. Almost a million people live in the metropolitan area, making it large enough to be cosmopolitan, yet small enough to navigate easily. Birmingham is Alabama's cultural and entertainment center, providing a very active intellectual life and a great cultural diversity due partly to its rapid growth in the late 19th and early 20th centuries as an industrial center and partly due to the phenomenal growth of UAB in the last four decades. Birmingham offers beautiful residential neighborhoods and parks, a thriving business climate, a relatively low cost of living, and excellent health care facilities. Among its large variety of arts and music offerings are many jazz clubs, the annual City Stages music festival, and world class events at UAB's Alys Stephens Performing Arts Center. Other local attractions include the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute, McWane Science Center, Birmingham Botanical Garden and Zoo, and Oak Mountain State Park.

Birmingham is in the geographic heart of the Southeast -- two hours from Atlanta, three hours from Nashville, six hours from New Orleans, five hours from the Smoky Mountains, and five hours from the beaches of the Gulf of Mexico.

In just a few decades, UAB has evolved into a world-renowned research university and health care center, Alabama's single largest employer, and an engine of revitalization for the city of Birmingham. UAB has more than 17,000 students (including about 4200 graduate students), 18,600 faculty and staff, and a campus covering more than 80 city blocks. UAB is one of America's premier research universities with a world-famous medical center, ranking among the top 20 in funding from the National Institutes of Health and earning more than $470 million per year in contract and grant support.

The Application Procedure

To apply for admission you have to provide academic records, letters of recommendation, and scores of the Graduate Record Examination (GRE), General Test. There are more requirements for international students. UAB charges also a processing fee. For details please see the admissions page of the Graduate School.The Graduate School requires that all applications are submitted online via the Apply-Yourself Network.If you have any general questions about the online application process, you can contact the Graduate School at the address

The Graduate School
The University of Alabama at Birmingham
1400 University Boulevard, Room 511
Birmingham, AL 35294-1150
USA
E-Mail: gradschool@uab.edu
Phone: 1-800-975-4723

With questions about our mathematics program and financial support, please contact us directly at

Department of Mathematics
University of Alabama at Birmingham
Birmingham, AL 35294-1170
USA
E-Mail: graduate@math.uab.edu
Phone: 1-205-934-2154

Applications for admission to the Graduate Programs in Mathematics are welcome any time. However, it is necessary that your complete application is received by the Graduate School at least six weeks before the beginning of the term in which you wish to begin graduate study. Moreover, to ensure full consideration for financial support for the Academic Year (mid August -- mid May) we should receive your application by March 15.