Dept of Maths, NUS - Undergraduate

Undergraduate Study in Mathematics

The Department of Mathematics at NUS is the largest department in the Faculty of Science. We offer a wide range of modules catered to specialists contemplating careers in mathematical science research as well as to those interested in applications of advanced mathematics to science, technology and commerce. The curriculum strives to maintain a balance between mathematical rigour and applications to other disciplines.

We offer a variety of major and minor programmes, covering different areas of mathematical sciences, for students pursuing full-time undergraduate studies. Those keen in multidisciplinary studies would also find learning opportunities in special combinations such as double degree, double major and interdisciplinary programmes.

Honours graduates may further their studies with the Graduate Programme in Mathematics by Research leading to M.Sc. or Ph.D. degree, or with the M.Sc. Programme in Mathematics by Coursework.

	Quick Overview
	Taking Math in NUS: A Door That Opens to Many Possibilities A short video by A/P Victor Tan on the real-world applications of mathematics, career prospects, and programme options available.

Prospective Students

Career Prospects

Mathematics graduates are much in demand wherever quantitative analysis is needed and/or rigorous, objective, critical analysis is valued. They are widely employed in commerce, industry and government sectors.

The various areas that our mathematics graduates can build a career include operations management, financial analysis, risk management, information processing, IT, administration, education and research. The following are some examples:

Area	Job	Institution
Administration	Administrator	Government and private sectors
Education	Teacher, curriculum developer, editor of textbooks	MOE, schools, polytechnics, publishers
Financial analysis	Financial analyst, financial planner, actuary, financial engineer, fund manager	Banks, insurance companies, hedge funds
Information management	Data analyst, cryptanalyst	DSO, MINDEF
IT	Software engineer, multimedia architect	IBM, HP, I2R, game design firms
Operations management	Operations research analyst	SIA, PSA
Research	University lecturer, researcher	Academic institutions, research organizations

There are many mathematics courses that prepare a mathematics major student with the relevant skills to work in the specific area. The mathematics training in general also equips students with the analytical skills that are essential in many jobs, especially executive works. The table below serves as a guide.

Real World Application	Areas in Mathematics
Internet: search engines, compression	Graph theory, linear algebra, wavelets
Confidentiality	Number theory, cryptology/combinatorics
Global reconnaissance	Signal / image processing, data mining
Options valuation	Black-Scholes model and Monte Carlo simulation
Analysis of the human genome	Data mining, pattern recognition, algorithms
Rational drug design	Data mining, combinatorics, statistics
MRI and CAT Imaging	Integral geometry, Fourier analysis, wavelet
Aerodynamic design	Differential equations
Visual effect	Computer graphics, differential equations
Modeling of oceans and atmosphere	Wavelets, statistics, numerical analysis
Earthquake analysis and prediction	Statistics, dynamical systems/turbulence

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Undergraduate Study in Mathematics

Prospective Students

Career Prospects

Major/Minor Programmes

Honours Year Project

Undergraduate Research Opportunities Programme in Science (UROPS)

Overseas Exchange Programme

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