Mathematics (MA)
专业详情
The Masters of Arts program in mathematics is intended for students who wish to go into professional careers in mathematics, and who have a background corresponding to an undergraduate mathematics major. The masters degree is typically earned in approximately two years, though it is possible to earn it in less time.
Students in the masters program take at least eight graduate mathematical courses numbered 500 and above, including at least one each in algebra, analysis, and geometry-topology. The other courses can be in either pure or applied mathematics, and some can be taken in other departments. There is also a requirement to pass the Graduate Preliminary Exam and to submit and defend a masters thesis.
The masters degree can also be earned by Penn Math Ph.D. students, on the way to their Ph.D. In addition, Penn Ph.D. students in allied fields of study can also apply to enter the masters program in mathematics, which can allow them to earn both degrees simultaneously.
Detailed requirements:
- Admission to candidacy: Admission to Masters candidacy is achieved by passing the Graduate Preliminary Exam by the end of the first year in the graduate program, and by satisfactory performance in the first year’s courses.
- Course requirements: A minimum of eight units of graduate courses at the University of Pennsylvania, numbered 500 and above, is required for the Masters degree, including at least four taken at the Penn Mathematics Department. Among these courses, every student must take at least a semester of graduate courses in each of algebra, analysis and geometry-topology.
- Language requirement: There is no foreign language requirement for the Masters degree.
- Masters thesis: Each student must write, under the supervision of a Mathematics Department faculty member, a satisfactory Masters thesis, of modest length, which is typically expository in nature, but may also be a research paper. The preparation of this thesis should involve the mastery of some area of mathematics beyond the curriculum of the courses that the student has taken, and should ordinarily take less than one semester to complete. (Successful passage by Math Ph.D. candidates of the Math Ph.D. oral exam (consisting either of both major and minor parts, or of one of these plus a thesis) will be accepted as a substitute to writing a Masters thesis and passing the Masters General Examination.)
- The Masters General Examination: The student will take a General Examination for the Masters degree. This exam consists of a presentation by the student of the content of the thesis, followed by questions from the faculty on the topic presented and related areas of mathermatics. The student must deliver a copy of the masters thesis to the graduate coordinator at least one week before this General Examination, so that it will be available for the reading by the mathematics faculty.
- Some important administrative details:
- Administration of the Graduate Program: The Graduate Group Chair directs and oversees the administration of the graduate program, advises the graduate students in this program, and assesses their progress on a continuing basis. The Graduate Group Chair is aided in this by the Graduate Preliminary Exam Committee, the Graduate Advising Committee, and the First Year Course Committee.
- Timing: The program leading to the Masters degree should ordinarily be completed within two years of full time study, and in any case must be completed within three years of full time study. Part time study, when allowed, will have a corresponding timetable set in each case by the Graduate Group Chair.
- Course schedules: Each semester, the student’s course schedule must be approved in advance by the Graduate Group Chair and the student’s advisor. Students are reminded that, while the course requirements for the masters degree include at least a semester of graduate courses in each of algebra, analysis and geometry-topology, the course requirements for the Ph.D. include a full year in each of these subjects at the 600 level, and may want to take this into account when planning their course schedules.
- Course requirement: Approval of the Graduate Group Chair is required for courses taken outside the Penn Mathematics Department to be counted toward the course requirement for the Masters Degree in Mathematics.
- The Masters General Examination Committee is appointed by the Graduate Group Chair after consultation with the student. It will consist of two or more faculty members, at least one of whom must be tenured, and one of whom will ordinarily be the supervising faculty member. The Graduate Group Chair will notify the entire mathematics faculty of the exam; all faculty are explicitly invited to attend, and those who do are full voting members of the Exam Committee.
- If the Masters General Examination is not passed on the first try, it may be taken just once more, and this must occur before the end of the following semester. Passing the Masters General Examination on the second try, at the latest, is a requirement for remaining in the graduate program.
- Satisfactory performance in the graduate program is determined by the Graduate Group Chair, with the aid of the Graduate Advising Committee and (for first year courses) the First Year Course Committee. Satisfactory performance, which includes maintaining a B average every academic year and meeting requirements in a timely manner, is a requirement for remaining in the graduate program.
