MSc in Mathematics

Program structure

The Master's degree program in Mathematics at SDU has a standard duration of two years.

There is only one compulsory course on the Master's degree program in Mathematics at SDU, namely MM845: Functional Analysis (5 ECTS). Therefore, you can shape the program according to your own personal interests.

During the first semester, as constituent courses, you can choose among all Master-level courses and individual projects offered within Mathematics and Statistics.

During the second semester, as part of the Perspectival Activity, you can choose freely among all Master-level courses and individual projects offered by the Faculty of Science, across all subject areas, as long as you meet any academic prerequisites. Bachelor-level courses are also allowed, as long as they fall outside the main subject area of the program. By approval from the Study Board, you can also take courses offered by other faculties if they are relevant to the academic profile of the Mathematics program.

During the third semester, as thesis preparatory activities, you can choose among all Master- and PhD-level courses and individual projects offered within Mathematics, Statistics, and Computer Science, as well as interdisciplinary Master- and PhD-level courses offered by the Faculty of Science.

During the fourth semester, you will complete your own individual research-based project for your 30 ECTS Master's Thesis.

The courses in the program are taught entirely in English.

Please note that if you start the program on 1 February, the contents of the first and second semesters will be switched around, so that you do the Perspectival Activity on your first semester, followed by the compulsory and constituent courses on your second semester.

Specializations

The structure of the program allows you to opt for a general profile or specialize in one of the following subject areas:

• Computational Science
• Mathematical Analysis

The specializations should be considered as suggestions to give you a better overview of the constituent and elective courses that we offer, but you will not be required to stick to courses from just one specialization.

Master's Thesis project

The Master's Thesis project on the Mathematics program is a 30 ECTS individual research-based project.

You can take part in an existing research-based project developed by your supervisor, develop your own project according to your interests or work on a real-life project in collaboration with a company.

Throughout the entire project, you will be supervised by a professor who is an expert in the topic area of your project. Most of our thesis students meet with their supervisors on a weekly basis to discuss questions arising and the progress of their projects.

Career Opportunities

For mathematicians, unemployment is virtually unknown.

Analytical qualification in the business sector

With a degree in Mathematics, you have many career opportunities in Denmark as well as abroad. Because of the analytical qualifications which are acquired through the Mathematics program, mathematicians are often preferred for analyst positions. In the economy, the health sector, construction, etc. there are often enormous amounts of data that need to be structured and analyzed.

Mathematicians are both qualified to use appropriate mathematical analysis methods as well as develop new methods for solving complex problems, such as developing a method – an algorithm – for analyzing scans to find diseases or using a range of methods to predict deviations in economic market conditions. Many such methods are created in collaboration with computer scientists and therefore most mathematicians also have basic knowledge of programming.

Statistical analysis of data

Some mathematicians focus on statistics and they have great career opportunities in analysis institutes, hospitals, pharmaceutical companies, etc. There are many political and health-related decisions that are made on the basis of statistical analyses. As a statistician, you are basically good at discovering whether there is just cause for a certain causal connection – for instance, whether a certain pharmaceutical is the cause of healing or whether a particular political agenda is the cause of higher voting rates.

Research

With a completed Master's degree in Mathematics, you can apply for a position as a PhD student at the Faculty of Science.