Maths phd

[Big Spoon]

If anyone is doing a maths phd, what are you doing it on, what is the process for application, how much does it cost and what are you planning to do afterwards?
I'm interested in doing one myself after I finish my degree and I'm interested in people's experiences.

Best maths joke ever:
What's green and commutes?
An abelian grape!

[Sven]

Originally posted by Big Spoon
What's green and commutes?
An abelian grape!
Let's continue the wellerisms (I hope this is the right word, I wanted to say "bad joke"; "Kalauer" in German):

What's yellow, complete and possesses a norm?
A Bananach space.

[McGargoyle]

And what is the shortest math joke?

Let ε<0

[liquid]

one of my friends does one here in the uk. I'll see if he has any comments.

where are you doing your degree?

[liquid]

Incidentally, i've always liked the MIT cheer

http://web.mit.edu/wrugby/cheer.html

Not sure why women's rugby came so high on google, but there you go!

[Big Spoon]

I've nearly finished my 2nd year of a 4 year course at Birmingham uni,
the main area of research here is group theory but I think I might like to do something in analysis.

[liquid]

OK, I'll speak to him next week sometime and PM you if he's free to answer questions. I'd do it sooner but very busy myself!

[Big Spoon]

Dear me, are there any jokes more wilfully recondite than maths jokes?

[Friar Bellows]

The reconditeness is purely circumstantial.

[tensorproduct]

Originally posted by Big Spoon
Dear me, are there any jokes more wilfully recondite than maths jokes?

Physics jokes.

For example:
Q: What's new?

A: E over h.

[Random]

I'm halfway through a rather complicated PhD on stochastic hamiltonian systems and meterological modelling; to cut a long story short, the Met Office has a problem with unpredictable fluctuations on scales smaller than their models can cope with, and they want me to come up with a probabilistic model that'll give them the most likely effect of said fluctuations. This has, so far, involved faffing about with Hamiltonian mechanics, differential geometry, Lie groups, Markov chains, stochastic differential equations, numerical analysis and Fortran 77. I'm becoming a reluctant and confused polymath.

Luckily, I'm getting shedloads of funding from EPSRC and the Met Office between them, which is more or less allowing me to live quite well. I did an MSc in applied maths, then during my second term I wandered round the department asking everyone I could find if they had some PhD projects going that they were likely to get funding for and wanted a student for, then started searching the web looking for more placements to apply for. Eventually, I got sent an email about this project, went and applied, then got it, to my considerable surprise. After this, I'm either going for a postdoc or going to beg the Met Office for a job. I'm also vaguely considering trying out for the Civil Service and trying to be a Scientific Advisor or summat.

Hope this helps...

[Afghan]

Funnily enough, I've been contemplating doing a PhD in financial mathematics of late. I don't think they do this one at Brum though which is a pity because they do damn fine balti in Selly Oak. I think it might have to be (shudders) Oxford.

But that's not for a few years. I want to earn some cold hard cash first. Uni's more fun with money.

[Demosthenes]

what's wrong with Oxford? I'd love to get a phd in mathematics from Oxford. I don't really give that much shit about Cambridge. Unfortunately it seems unlikely I'll be attending Oxford due to circumstances beyond my control.

[Random]

Ah, Oxford's not such a bad place. Decent pubs, a few nice Thai places. If you do end up here, let me know and I'll buy you a drink sometime.

[Afghan]

There's nothing wrong with Oxford. It's just I'm a red brick boy. It seems a little bit rarefied for the likes of me.

They don't actually do PhDs at Oxford though.

[Random]

No, they do DPhils instead - different name, functionally the same thing.

[caravelair]

i've got a good math joke...

so pi and e^x were walking down the street one day, and they were both arguing about which one of them was better. pi says "come on, i'm PI. i'm so cool. people love me. how are you gonna calculate the circumference of a circle without me?" e^x responded "yeah, but think about this: what happens when you meet a differential operator, and you turn into a derivative? you turn into 0. you're DEAD. but take my derivative? you just get back good old e^x. it doesn't effect me at all. i'm tough." so the friends continued to walk down the street, chatting it up, and all of a sudden a differential operator turns the corner and walks towards them. pi says "okay, i'm getting the hell out of here!" and he runs away. e^x laughs, and walks right up the the operator. he says "hi, i'm e^x". and the differential operator responds "nice to meet you. i'm d/dy."

ZING! ha ha.

[McGargoyle]

Another one:
After God made all the animals, he called them together and said to them "Go forth and multiply!"
A pair of snakes slithers to the front and they say: "Sorry god, we can't."
Angry, the almighty responds: "Why not?"
"Because we're adders."
"Hmmm..." says God and points to some fallen trees "...well, use LOGS!"

I wonder if the jokes should be split off to the Humor forum...

[stupiddrummer]

I just finished my maths degree at Warwick university, and I've sort of moved fields now. I'm doing a strange multidisciplinary PhD which is a cross between biochemistry and mathematics.

I'm currently researching gene expression in cancer, it's all very interesting! The maths involved is mainly modelling (differential equations, perturbation theory, stuff of that ilk), bioinformatics (statistical analysis of biological data) and there's even a bit of quantum thrown in for good measure!

The first year is pretty tough, because they kind of have to teach the mathematicians biochemistry, and vice-versa, so there's a lot to get through in a short amount of time. It's great fun though, and a nice change from the stuff you learn in the bsc/msc.

It's a 4 year course (1st year msc in multidisciplinary science, followed by 3 year phd), and the pay is really good. It's a brand new course. I was one of the test subjects. It's all going well so far!

You can check out about it here (http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/fac/sci/moac/). Not sure if that's the sort of thing you were looking for, but as I say, it's very interesting and has pretty good future prospects. You can PM me if you have any queries. Good luck with the search.

stupiddrummer

[stupiddrummer]

Oh yeah, incidentally it's completely EPSRC funded, so there's no fees to pay, and they give you a stipend that starts at about £11,000 a year, and goes up to about £13,000 by the 4th year.

There's loads of benefits aswell (free laptop computer, fitted kitchen in the office, free food, all the biscuits you can eat) which makes it pretty sweet!

stupiddrummer

[stupiddrummer]

Why did the chicken cross the mobius strip?
To get to the same side!

An English mathematician was asked by his very religious colleague:
Q. Do you believe in one God?
A. Yes - up to isomorphism.

Q. What's the square root of 69?
A. Eight something.

Theorem: All horses have infinitely many legs.
Proof (i): Everyone would agree that all horses have an even number of legs. It is also well-known that horses have forelegs in front and two legs at the back. 4 + 2 = 6 legs, which is certainly an odd number of legs for a horse to have! So, since we have shown the number of legs on a horse to be both even and odd, there must be infinitely many of them. QED.


I remember these! Ah, to be in the first year again!

stupiddrummer

[caravelair]

i also have a collection of amusing science "disses" exchanged between a friend and myself:

scientists baffled by the gigantic size of your mother have recently suggested a period of exponential expansion called "inflation" to explain the lack of causal connection between opposite sides of her body.

I believe that your mother's blood type is also "ragu", mainly on account of her purported largesse.

your mother loves to suck my 10 dimensional superstring.

scientists have abandoned the theory of an infinite universe in favour of one that is just large enough to contain your mother's ass.

your mother satisfies my time-independant schroedinger wave equation.

you will find that you are incorrect, if you take the limit as epsilon approaches the size of your mom's ass.

[Muad'Dib]

Originally posted by Big Spoon
If anyone is doing a maths phd, what are you doing it on, what is the process for application, how much does it cost and what are you planning to do afterwards?
I'm interested in doing one myself after I finish my degree and I'm interested in people's experiences. I'm in a pure math program, and qualifying exams permitting I'll be doing logic.

Funding varies from institution to institution. Some places will give you a fellowship if you're lucky; others will want you to work as a TA or RA; others want you to pay your own way. You should avoid the latter if possible, unless you don't mind taking out a bunch more loans. In any case, you won't find out what kind of money they'll give you until you're admitted and they send you an offer.

You can get application information from virtually any program online, and a lot of them will even let you fill everything out online too. Most will want at least 3 letters of rec, and US institutions will also want your GRE and math subject GRE scores. It doesn't hurt to have a research project and/or a published paper under your belt, especially if you're looking at the more prestigious programs.

What would probably be most immediately helpful is to take a graduate-level math class or two at your current institution to get a feel for the pace and atmosphere. If you like pure math, then introductory (graduate) algebra, topology, or real analysis would be good choices; if you lean toward applied, ODEs or numerical analysis will be helpful. Grades barely matter once you get to grad school, but it looks good on your apps to have high marks in advanced math courses you weren't required to take. This may also give you a quicker start finding out what kind of math you like.

-Muad'Dib

[Jim Larmore]

Hey Muad'Dib,
I have a question for you since your a math major. What computer program do you use to do differential equations?

Have you tried the Runge Kutta method for excell? If you have what do you think of it. I've been trying it out recently and it works ok I'm just interested in finding other methods.

[Muad'Dib]

Originally posted by Jim Larmore
Hey Muad'Dib,
I have a question for you since your a math major. What computer program do you use to do differential equations?

Have you tried the Runge Kutta method for excell? If you have what do you think of it. I've been trying it out recently and it works ok I'm just interested in finding other methods. I'm in pure math, so I'll probably never have reason to touch differential equations again; but when I was an undergrad I used Maple for all my ODE needs. It can handle Runge-Kutta and just about any other "ordinary" method of approximating solutions to ODEs. It's very pricey (around $1800 for a student edition), so if I didn't have it through university I'd have to look for something else. Since what I work with right now doesn't require a computer algebra system, I'm not aware of any reasonably-priced alternatives, but I'll ask around in the applied department and see what options are out there.

[Jim Larmore]

Originally posted by Muad'Dib
I'm in pure math, so I'll probably never have reason to touch differential equations again; but when I was an undergrad I used Maple for all my ODE needs. It can handle Runge-Kutta and just about any other "ordinary" method of approximating solutions to ODEs. It's very pricey (around $1800 for a student edition), so if I didn't have it through university I'd have to look for something else. Since what I work with right now doesn't require a computer algebra system, I'm not aware of any reasonably-priced alternatives, but I'll ask around in the applied department and see what options are out there.

I really appreciate your response. I do some diff eqs every now and then. I guess you could say I'm an amateur engineer of a sorts and do some calculations that require setting up an equation that uses differentiation or integration. Runge Kutta works pretty well most of the time in excell. Man that system is pretty powerfull for a spread sheet. Check around with your compadrees and see if there is anything else. I'll check out this maple program too.
Thanks :)

[liquid]

runge kutta will do until you start getting into PDEs.

[Jim Larmore]

Originally posted by liquid
runge kutta will do until you start getting into PDEs.

So what are you using for PDEs?

[Big Spoon]

Thanks for all your replies regarding phds.

I love maths.

[Goliath]

Originally posted by Big Spoon
If anyone is doing a maths phd, what are you doing it on,


Commutative Algebra. Specifically, factorization theory of integral domains.



what is the process for application,



Pick some schools that you want to go to, fill out some applications, and hope you get in. That having been said, most graduate programs aren't impossibly competitive (although there is a substantial attrition rate of graduate students in mathematics).



how much does it cost



To apply? That depends on the school. An applicatoin fee for one school will probably be in the $50-100 range.

If you meant how much it costs to get the degree, that again depends on the school. If it weren't for my taking last summer off, I'd be able to get my PhD with no debt whatsoever. For most programs, tuition is not a factor since you can most likely get a TAship that comes with a tuition waiver.



and what are you planning to do afterwards?



I plan on being an academia nut. I'm currently waiting on a job offer from the University of South Dakota.



I'm interested in doing one myself after I finish my degree and I'm interested in people's experiences.



Excellent! Any leanings towards any specific area of mathematics?

If you have any more questions, feel free to e-mail me.

Sincerely,

Goliath


Best maths joke ever:
What's green and commutes?
An abelian grape!

What's yellow and equivalent to the Axiom of Choice? Zorn's Lemon!

The mathematician Leopold Vietoris (http://graphics.stanford.edu/courses/cs468-02-fall/readings/fea-vietoris.pdf) died almost 2 years ago at the age of 111. He had a long exact sequence of birthdays.

[Big Spoon]

Thanks Goliath. that's very helpful.

Any leanings towards any specific area of mathematics?
So far I seem to be good at linear algebra (ring and group theory) and analysis (metric spaces and complex-type stuff).

I plan on being an academia nut.

Me too, it really appeals to me. Both my parents are academics and they really enjoy their jobs.

[nermal]

Originally posted by Jim Larmore
I really appreciate your response. I do some diff eqs every now and then. I guess you could say I'm an amateur engineer of a sorts and do some calculations that require setting up an equation that uses differentiation or integration. Runge Kutta works pretty well most of the time in excell. Man that system is pretty powerfull for a spread sheet. Check around with your compadrees and see if there is anything else. I'll check out this maple program too.
Thanks :)

IIRC, Mathematica does RK easily, and runs about 189 for student version.

I wrote a cute little algorithm in my TI-95+ which does RK also. It was a fun little exercise.

Ed