| |
Jun 02, 2026
|
|
|
|
|
2026-2027 Graduate Catalog
Mathematics Major, PhD
|
|
Designed to prepare students for industrial employment and for college and university teaching and research.
|
Campus Code
Knoxville Campus Credit Hours Required
- Minimum of 72 graduate credit hours beyond the Bachelor’s or
- Minimum of 48 graduate credit hours beyond the Master’s
Non-Course Requirements
- Pass an oral defense and complete a written dissertation.
Mathematical Biology Concentration
Designed to prepare students for industrial employment and for college and university teaching and research in which an emphasis on applications of mathematics to ecology and the biological sciences is desired. Credit Hours Required
- Minimum of 72 graduate credit hours beyond the Bachelor’s or
- Minimum of 48 graduate credit hours beyond the Master’s
Required Courses
- These requirements must be completed no later than the start of the student’s seventh year (as a mathematics graduate student at UT).
- Demonstrate competency with a satisfactory performance on two diagnostic examinations in the areas of advanced calculus and linear algebra. (Additional requirements for GTAs can be found in the Mathematics Graduate Student Handbook.) The appropriate courses upon which the exams are based are the MATH 447-MATH 448 sequence and for linear algebra MATH 457-MATH 458 sequence or MATH 453.
- A student must pass written examinations on mathematical ecology (MATH 581-MATH 582) and one of the following year-long sequences –
Analysis - MATH 545 - Real Analysis and
- MATH 546 - Complex Analysis
Computational and Applied Mathematics - MATH 571 - Numerical Analysis I and
- MATH 572 - Numerical Analysis II
Differential Equations - MATH 535 - Partial Differential Equations I and
- MATH 536 - Partial Differential Equations II
Stochastics - MATH 523 - Probability I and
- Take at least two different one-semester research seminars
- MATH 524 - Probability II
- A student must pass one examination by the middle of their third year and both examinations by the middle of their fourth year.
- Pass an examination in the field of specialization after the requirements in the first three bullets have been met. This examination will be given by a committee appointed by the department head.
- A student may take this specialty examination no more than two times.
- In addition to the two year-long sequences chosen for the preliminary examinations, a student must take the following:
- 600-level sequence outside the student’s area of specialization;
- Six additional one-semester 500-600 level courses. Two of those courses may be from the area of biology (courses from the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, College of Veterinary Medicine, or Public Health) approved by their advisor.
These six courses must include:
- A one year-long Mathematics (MATH) or Computational Statistics and Data Science (CSDS) sequence in a third area (i.e., an area different from those represented in the two preliminary examinations); and
- At least one Mathematics or Computational Statistics and Data Science (CSDS) course in a fourth area (this fourth area must be distinct from the two preliminary exam areas, but may coincide with the area of the sequence used to satisfy (a).
- Students must earn a grade of B- (B minus) or better in each of these six courses.
Non-Course Requirements
- Pass an oral defense and complete a written dissertation.
|
|
|
