Mathematical Sciences

About This Degree

Students earning a PhD in mathematical sciences can choose to study in several different areas.

The department's excellent ratio of graduate students to faculty permits close personal guidance for each student. Students are able to tailor their programs of study to match their interests in specific areas of mathematics and statistics as well as interdisciplinary research.

Specialization:

Pure and Applied Mathematics:

This is a traditional doctoral program in mathematics, offering broad training in the foundations of modern mathematics together with specialized training in an area of mathematical research. The dissertation represents a significant contribution to mathematics research in the chosen area of specialization.

Statistics:

This specialization offers broad training in theoretical and applied statistics for students seeking careers in data sciences, academia, industry, or government. The dissertation represents a significant contribution to statistical research.

Interdisciplinary Studies:

This specialization gives students the opportunity to receive advanced training in mathematics and/or statistics in the context of another field of inquiry, such as biology, business, education, engineering, ecology, economics, or physics. Students in this specialization usually take about two thirds of their coursework in Mathematics and Statistics and the remaining third in the other discipline. The dissertation itself will generally entail the development of advanced mathematical or statistical methods to solve problems in another subject area.

College Teaching:

This specialization is designed for students preparing for careers focused on teaching mathematics and statistics. Students in the College Teaching specialization receive broad training in pure and applied mathematics and statistics and complete six credits of College Teaching Internship under the guidance of their supervisory committee. The dissertation for this specialization is flexible and may include original research in mathematics, statistics or education as well as exposition of important mathematical and statistical theories and their historical relationships.

Climate Adaptation Science (Mathematical Science PhD):

The Climate Adaptation Science specialization provides students with experiences in actionable science through internship and research experiences. Program includes interdisciplinary research to identify adaptive responses to changing climate extremes and two-part internships with agency, NGO, and industry partners. In a first internship, students contribute to projects and learn the workplace cultures and science needs of the host. The internship experiences inform interdisciplinary climate adaptation research by student teams. In a second internship, students share science results and tools with the host organization and help put that science into action.

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At a Glance

College: College of Science

Department: Mathematics and Statistics Department

USU Locations:

Logan campus

Program Requirements

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Career And Outcomes

Career Opportunities

Graduates are employed as research-track faculty or lecturers at universities and colleges as well as governmental labs, industrial research centers, and private industry. We have had 98% success at employing doctoral graduates, and US News ranked Statistician as one of the nation's Top Five Careers.

Job Outlook

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Advising

John Stevens

Professor, Assistant Department Head for Graduate Studies
Email: john.r.stevens@usu.edu
Office: ANSC 224
Phone: (435) 797-2818

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USU Locations

LOGAN CAMPUS

Admission

Admission Requirements

Students may enter the PhD program after completing an MS or directly from a bachelor’s in the case of well-qualified candidates. Applicants are not required to have undergraduate degrees in mathematics or statistics, but must have strong backgrounds in these areas as evidenced by their transcripts.

Application to the PhD program is through the USU School of Graduate Studies website.

Students must provide:

GRE general scores (subject exams not required). We look for Quantitative scores above 60% and Verbal scores above 40%, but the application process is competitive so higher scores may be neccessary be competitive with other applicants.
TOEFL or IELTS (unless you have earned a degree in an English-speaking country, e.g. US, UK or Canada). To qualify for a teaching assistantship in our department the total TOEFL iBT score must be 100 or above. IELTS must be at or above 6.5 for TA consideration.
Transcripts of all past coursework. Your GPA *must* be above 3.0 during the last two years, and *should* be above 3.5 in technical subjects.
Contact information for three references who can speak to your academic preparation, professional goals and work ethic.
Personal statements on our Departmental Application Form (request from the Graduate Program Coordinator, gary.tanner@usu.edu).

International students have additional admissions requirements.

Deadlines

Most students are admitted in Fall semester. The target date for Fall semester applications is January 15; admission notice and offers of support are generally mailed in March. Students are asked to accept/decline offers of support on or about April 15.

Program Requirements

Doctoral comprehensive examinations in the Department of Mathematics and Statistics are set by a student's supervisory committee and are intended to test the student's depth of knowledge in areas related to their research specialization and career goals. The exams themselves may be comprised of individual exams set and graded by subsets of the supervisory committee, a single exam written and graded by the committee, oral examinations by the committee or a subset, or mixtures of these as the committee sees fit. Comprehensive exams must be taken in or before the third year of matriculation in the doctoral program.