UCLA Math Graduate Programs

Mosaic on Math Building. Mathematical Sciences Building

The UCLA Department of Mathematics is a center of excellence for cutting-edge research in mathematics, including interfaces with other disciplines. In 2007 the Department received the American Mathematical Society's (AMS) Award for an Exemplary Program or Achievement in a Mathematics Department. The award recognizes a mathematics department in North America that has distinguished itself by undertaking an unusual or particularly effective program of value to the mathematics community, internally, or in relation to the rest of society. The Department was the second recipient of this award. AMS praised the Department for "a comprehensive vision for its undergraduate, graduate, and postdoctoral training programs that involves important interactions with the NSF-funded Institute for Pure and Applied Mathematics (IPAM) at UCLA. Through these unusually large training programs, UCLA has become one of the biggest pipelines to mathematical careers in the United States."

Virtually every core area of mathematics is strongly represented in the Department. The rejuvenation of faculty recruitment efforts in recent years has contributed to the Department's increased standing and reputation. In the U.S. News & World Report's 2010 Best Graduate Schools rankings, the Department climbed to its highest historical ranking of eight (shared) overall in the nation. In five of seven research specialties, the Department ranked in the top 10: Applied Mathematics (2), Logic (2), Analysis (3), Discrete Mathematics and Combinatorics (6), and Algebra/Number Theory/Algebraic Geometry (9). The Academic Ranking of World Universities' (ARWU) summer 2010 annual ranking put the Department at number 10 among all mathematics departments in the world and sixth among those in the U.S. Across fields, the Department was one of two UCLA departments/schools to rank in the top 10 worldwide.

The Department encourages close interaction between faculty and its diverse graduate student body to maximize students' educational experience. There are many opportunities for learning mathematics beyond formal coursework. To supplement the classroom experience, a Distinguished Lecture Series, weekly colloquia and conferences are offered throughout the year. Distinguished visiting faculty from across the globe supplements the Department's world-class faculty. As of fall 2011, the graduate program has 149 PhD candidates. Reflecting the level of excellence of the Department's graduate students, 10 percent of NSF graduate fellowships in mathematics were awarded to students in 2010 (seven out of 62 awards).

The 2010 – 2011 PhD graduate class numbered 29 with most continuing their research studies in postdoctoral positions or as tenured faculty at premier institutions, including UC Berkeley, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Mathematical Sciences Research Institute (MSRI), Statistical and Applied Mathematical Sciences Institute (SAMSI), Stanford University, New York University, and Georgia Institute of Technology. Careers in industry include placements at Intel Corporation, Disney, DreamWorks Animation, and Pacific Investment Management Company (PIMCO).
IPAM
Founded in 1998 by Department faculty, the UCLA Institute for Pure and Applied Mathematics (IPAM) is one of eight National Science Foundation (NSF) mathematical sciences institutes in the country with a mission to make mathematics transformative to other scientific fields in order to promote and revolutionize new technologies that measurably impact the advancement of humankind. IPAM reaches across disciplines – including astrophysics, atmospheric sciences, bioinformatics, biophysics, cellular biology, computer science, cryptography, electrical engineering, geophysics, mechanical engineering, medicine, physics, and psychology. IPAM programs complement the Department's applied mathematics group and also include workshops in pure mathematics, typically bringing together researchers from several distinct fields to increase interactions between the fields. IPAM offers a variety of programs for graduate students and is located adjacent to the Math Sciences Building. 		IPAM Building

Department Overview
The Department is by far the youngest of the top mathematics departments in the nation. Since awarding its first PhD in 1947, it has grown significantly. As of fall 2011, it has 51 ladder faculty members and 50 assistant adjunct professors, postdoctoral fellows, lecturers, and visiting faculty, encompassing major areas of both pure and applied mathematics. Yet, despite its size and scope, indeed perhaps because of it, the Department has succeeded in creating a unique synergy among its faculty across its research groups. This integration of research interests and the opportunity to train under diverse faculty is a huge draw.

Reflecting the global reputation of the Department, the International Congress of Mathematicians (ICM) has consistently invited faculty researchers to speak at its congress held every four years. The Department had five invited talks at the ICM 2010 held in Hyderabad, India: one plenary lecture in applied math and four invited talks in functional analysis, combinatorics, algebra, and number theory.

The highest honors awarded individual faculty members in the last eight years include a Fields Medal, an Abel Prize to one if its emeriti, three plenary speakers at the International Congress of Mathematicians (ICM), a MacArthur Fellowship, a Fermat Prize, a Cole prize, an Ostrowski Prize, three new National Academy of Science members, one new fellow of the Royal Society of London and four new members of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences. Promising young faculty have been the recipients of the Sloan Research Fellowship, the Guggenheim Fellowship and most recently in 2011, a prestigious Presidential Early Career Awards for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE).

Facilities
Graduate Reading Room Department and Library: The Department is located in the Mathematical Sciences Building, which is centrally situated on the UCLA campus. The MS building houses classrooms, administrative offices, faculty offices, graduate student offices, the graduate student lounge and several computer labs. In addition, the Department maintains its own Graduate Reading Room. The Reading Room has a large non-circulating collection of books, over 9,000 monographs, and subscribes to 150 mathematical journals. The Engineering and Mathematical Sciences Library is located nearby in the adjoining Boelter Hall.
Computing: The Department provides general computing support for faculty and graduate students. Facilities available to graduate students include the Applied Computing Lab (ACL) in MS 6187 and the Graduate Computing Lab (GCL) in MS 3347. The ACL is available to all Applied Math graduate students, and consists of six machines running Linux and eight machines running Windows 2000. A high-speed/volume printer is available as well. The GCL has linux/windows machines and a high-speed/volume printer. In addition, PC's are available in all graduate student offices. The department also maintains a Linux based "Beowulf" cluster for parallel computing.
Calendar: The University of California, Los Angeles is on a three-quarter academic year. The Fall Quarter 2011 began on September 19 and ends December 19. Winter 2012 begins January 4 and ends March 16. Spring 2012 begins March 28 and ends June 8. Spring break is the week in between the end of the winter quarter and the beginning of spring quarter. There is also a Summer Session, however graduate courses are not offered.
 

For more information, contact the Math Dept. Graduate Advisor, gradapps@math.ucla.edu.
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