Mathematics & Statistics

The Department of Mathematics & Statistics offers graduate coursework in MA and PhD degree programs, in both mathematics and statistics. In addition, the department offers coursework toward an MS in Statistical Practice.

The research areas pursued in the department span pure mathematics and applied mathematics, mathematical statistics and applied statistics, as well as probability and stochastic processes. In mathematics, current faculty research activities center on number theory, algebraic geometry, bioinformatics, celestial mechanics, complex dynamics, computational biology, conformal field theory, differential geometry and topology, dynamical systems, mathematical neuroscience, mathematical physics, numerical analysis, ordinary differential equations, partial differential equations, probability theory, and stochastic analysis. The research activities in statistics center on the development of both statistical theory and methods, as well as their application to a variety of other areas of the sciences, through interdisciplinary projects in bioinformatics, computer science, genetics, geosciences, mathematical finance, medicine, neuroscience, and social science. Research interests of the faculty include analysis of high-dimensional data, Bayesian statistics, casual inference, functional data analysis, graphical models, longitudinal analysis, mathematical finance, mixture models, network analysis, sparse partial least squares, statistical learning, stochastic processes, and time series analysis. The program in probability theory provides mathematical background for understanding the random phenomena that arise in science and engineering. It also provides a link between mathematics and statistics. MA-level and PhD-level coursework, including seminar-level courses, are offered in all of these subjects, as well as in classical fields of mathematics and statistics, such as real and complex analysis, abstract algebra, functional analysis, Lie groups, and algebraic topology.

The department offers the necessary space and state-of-the-art tools for faculty and graduate students to carry out analytical and computational research in mathematics, statistics, and probability.