• The faculty at the University of Utah are active and involved with the students and have many diverse research projects. Our former graduate students have gone on to mathematical careers both in academia and in industry.
  • The Ph.D. Program in the Department of Mathematics enjoys an excellent reputation in a diversified set of subjects, such as algebraic geometry, commutative algebra, differential geometry, geometric topology, group and representation theory, and number theory in pure areas, and materials and fluids, mathematical biology, mathematical finance, numerical analysis, partial differential equations, probability, and statistics in applied areas.
  • Typically we only admit students to the PhD programin the fall semester of each year. If you are applying to the PhD program please only select the fall semester as your application term. If there is a strong reason that you need to apply for the PhD program in a different semester please contact the Director of Graduate Studies
  • The course requirements for the Ph.D. degree consist of at least seven sequences (each sequence contains two consecutive courses on a subject)

  • The following is a list of departmental requirements, in addition to the requirements of the Graduate School, for candidates seeking a Ph.D. degree in mathematics:

    • At least 42 credit hours numbered 6000 or above
      • At least 14 credit hours of the 42 credit hours should be courses numbered 7800-7970 (topics courses, seminars, and thesis research).
    • Six written qualifying examinations
    • An oral qualifying examination
    • Two semesters of teaching
    • The final oral examination
  • The written qualifying examinations are given twice a year, in January and August, just before the start of the Spring and Fall semesters. A Ph.D. candidate is required to pass six written qualifying examinations 
  • Each exam lasts two hours and is written at a first-year graduate level.
  • This exam is conducted by the student’s supervisory committee and it can take one of the following two formats: a general exam to measure the student’s overall mathematical maturity and breadth, or a presentation of the proposed dissertation project.
  • Each Ph.D. candidate is required to teach a minimum of two courses or equivalent tutorials, or supervise laboratory sessions.