Guide to Graduate Studies
APPLIED AND COMPUTATIONAL MATHEMATICS
DEGREE REQUIREMENTS AND GUIDELINES
Department of Mathematics
Florida State University

Contents

The Core

Specialty

Seminars

For the Ph.D. Student

For the MS. Student

Timeline

Year 1

Year 2

Year 3

Examinations

Core Exams

Specialty Exam

Prospectus

Applied and Computational Mathematics Graduate Studies Checklist (Will open in a new window.)

The Core. The foundation of the Applied Mathematics curriculum is the Core. The purpose of the Core is to get students to (essentially) the same place mathematically for advanced level courses and to give some structure for incoming students to follow. The core includes four two-semester sequences:

MAP 5165 / MAP 5932		Methods of Applied Mathematics I & II
MAD 5403 / 5404		Foundations of Computational Mathematics I & II
MAP 5932* / 5932*		Applied Analysis I & II (*Temporary Number)
MAP 5345 / 5346		Elementary Partial Differential Equations I & II

Students will be required to take PDE, Foundations of Computational Mathematics and a choice of either Methods of Applied Mathematics or Applied Analysis. back to Contents

Specialty. With the completion of the core, students will choose an area of interest, i.e., application in which to work and on which to be examined. The second year will be spent gathering expertise in the specialty area. The choice of the area will be made in coordination with the student's committee, which will be chosen before the beginning of the second year. The courses in the second tier include, but are not limited to, current offerings such as:

MAD 5738		Numerical Solution of Partial Differential Equations I
MAD 5739		Numerical Solution of Partial Differential Equations II
MAP 5207		Optimization
MAP 5107		Mathematical Modeling
MAP 5395		Finite Element Methods
MAP 5431		Introduction to Fluid Dynamics

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Seminars. Students will be expected to participate actively in at least one of the seminar series offered by the department and to attend the weekly mathematics colloquium regularly. After admission to doctoral candidacy, registration and participation in an appropriate seminar are required for a minimum of three semesters. back to Contents

For the Ph.D. Student. A doctoral student in mathematics must demonstrate proficiency in a minor; normally this is accomplished by completing six or more semester hours in an approved mathematics-related subject with a grade point average of at least 3.0. To be admitted to candidacy for the Ph.D., students are required to complete a minimum of 30 hours of graded coursework at the 5000 level or above as approved by their supervisory committee. back to Contents

For the MS. Student. The MS student will follow the same course sequence as for the Ph.D. degree. back to Contents

Timeline. The curriculum and exams are designed to help the student better coordinate his/her education, be prepared to start the dissertation research in the third year, and have the flexibility to specialize in subject areas of interest. A timeline that accomplishes this is (Masters differences in parentheses):

YEAR 1. The student takes

   1. Foundations of Computational Mathematics I & II

   2. Methods of Applied Mathematics I & II OR Applied Analysis I & II

   3. Partial Differential Equations I & II

At the end of YEAR 1, with final exam grades of A- (B for Masters) or higher, the student has completed the core requirements and examinations. (See below for details.) The student will form a specialty committee and decide on the YEAR 2 courses.

YEAR 2. The student takes second tier courses in the area of specialty. If the waiver of an exam is not obtained, the student will sit for a written qualifier exam before the beginning of the second year. By the end of the second year, the student will be prepared to take the specialty exam. (Masters students will take the Masters Comprehensive Examination at the end of the second year.)

YEAR 3. By early in the fall semester, the Ph.D. student takes the specialty exam as set by the student's committee. The student will then begin working on a dissertation topic in preparation for preparing the prospectus. Advanced level courses may also be taken at this time.

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Examinations.

All students must pass core exams. Ph.D. students will take a third exam that will cover will cover the area of specialty. Rather than a specialty exam, per se, the student will be required to complete a Masters Comprehensive Exam (MCE). (If a student has arranged to write a Master's thesis with a professor, and wishes the thesis option, this will be considered by the Director of Applied and Computational Mathematics.) The Ph.D. specialty exam can be used to satisfy MCE requirement. back to Contents

Core Exams.Core exams will cover the Foundations of Computational Mathematics course and whichever the student chooses between Methods of Applied Mathematics or Applied Analysis. PDE's, while required, will not be tested separately, except possibly as part of a specialty.

For each of the two Core sequences on which the student will be tested, an examination committee is appointed by the Department Chair as part of the Departmental Qualifiers Committee. If a student completes a Core sequence at FSU, the instructor will make available to the committee the final examinations of the student for each of the semesters. The committee will determine immediately after the spring term whether the performance of the student is worthy of a waiver of the written exam. The normal standard will be a grade of "A-" or better on the examinations, but the committee will use discretion for borderline situations. For the Masters degree, the target is a B or better. In exceptional situations, the committee could waive the written exam for transfer students who provide overwhelming evidence of their competence in the subject matter. If the waiver is not granted, the student must sit for an exam based upon the material in the Core sequence before the beginning of classes in the fall of his/her second year. A re-take exam will be given in January.

As soon as a student has successfully passed the qualifying exams in the Core courses, the department Chair will establish a supervisory committee agreeable to the student and chaired by the Major Professor. This committee will organize the student's specialty area and run the specialty exam/MCE. The supervisory committee will also be in charge of setting the course of study after the first year.

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Specialty Exam. A Ph.D. student must pass an examination in a specialty area. The purpose of this exam is to determine the readiness of the student to begin research in the PhD program. The format of the examination will be determined by the supervisory committee. The examination will be broadly based on material from 1-2 semesters of course material at a level above the core courses. This exam will normally be taken by at least the early fall of the third year.

When the Core and Specialty exams are completed, the Ph.D. student will be considered to have completed the candidacy exam and be qualified for dissertation credit. The student will then prepare to present a prospectus, and ultimately a dissertation defense, in coordination with his/her dissertation committee.

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Prospectus. Ph.D. Students in Applied and Computational Mathematics must prepare and defend a prospectus as soon as is possible after the core and specialty exams are completed. A prospectus is essentially a written proposal for the dissertation research to be presented to and defended before the student's Supervisory Committee, which includes an outside member, as defined by the University. The purpose of the prospectus is to convince the Supervisory Committee that the student is ready to do the research necessary to write a dissertation and that he or she has a clear idea of what needs to be accomplished. A prospectus typically includes background work for the dissertation including a literature review and preliminary results that the student has obtained. It also includes a proposal for the research to be completed for the dissertation. Once the Supervisory Committee approves the prospectus, the student will complete his or her research and write the final dissertation.

This document is maintained by melïssa elaine smith / smith@math.fsu.edu
Last modified: 20 August 2007