Subject overview

Specialist facilities

Research students have dedicated shared office space close to their supervisors’ offices and are supplied with a desktop computer. The Department has its own computing research laboratory containing several workstations and PCs. As researchers, PhD and MPhil students have full access to the University’s high-performance computing facilities. 

Interaction between research students is greatly supported by the provision of a dedicated communal space and kitchen. Research students also use this space to give seminars to their peers. Our overall aim is to create an environment conducive to discussion and research collaboration at the highest level.

Programmes

• PhD in Mathematics
• MPhil in Mathematics

Our PhD and MPhil research degrees can be studied either full time or part time. You usually attend advanced modules, as well as undertaking research work supervised by a member of faculty. 

The Department runs weekly seminars on general and specialist topics, with both national and international speakers. 

Recent thesis titles

A numerical approach to study cell dynamics 

Analytically divergence-free discretisation methods for Darcy’s problem 

Arcs in a finite projective plane 

LDPC codes from semipartial geometries 

On blow-up solutions of parabolic problems 

Primal-dual active set methods for Allen-Cahn variational inequalities 

Reaction-diffusion systems on evolving domains with applications to the theory of biological pattern formation 

Recovery methods for evolution and non-linear problems 

The geometry of the plane of order seventeen and its application to error-correcting codes 

Topological methods for strong local minimisers and extremals of multiple integrals of calculus of variations 

Entry requirements

MPhil in Mathematics

UK entrance requirements

A first- or upper second-class undergraduate honours degree or an MSc in mathematics.

Overseas entrance requirements

If your country is not listed below, please contact the University at E pg.enquiries@sussex.ac.uk

Country	Overseas qualification
Australia	Bachelor (Honours) degree with second-class upper division
Brazil	Bacharel, Licenciado or professional title with a final mark of at least 8
Canada	Bachelor degree with CGPA 3.3/4.0 (grade B+)
China	Bachelor degree from a leading university with overall mark of 75%-85% depending on your university
Cyprus	Bachelor degree or Ptychion with a final mark of at least 7.5
France	Licence with mention bien or Maîtrise with final mark of at least 13
Germany	Bachelor degree or Magister Artium with a final mark of 2.4 or better
Ghana	Bachelor degree from a public university with second-class upper division
Greece	Ptychion from an AEI with a final mark of at least 7.5
Hong Kong	Bachelor (Honours) degree with second-class upper division
India	Bachelor degree from a leading institution with overall mark of at least 60% or equivalent
Iran	Bachelor degree (Licence or Karshenasi) with a final mark of at least 15
Italy	Diploma di Laurea with an overall mark of at least 105
Japan	Bachelor degree from a leading university with a minumum average of B+ or equivalent
Malaysia	Bachelor degree with class 2 division 1
Mexico	Licenciado with a final mark of at least 8
Nigeria	Bachelor degree with second-class upper division or CGPA of at least 3.0/4.0
Pakistan	Four-year bachelor degree, normally with a GPA of at least 3.3
Russia	Magistr or Specialist Diploma with a minimum average mark of at least 4
South Africa	Bachelor (Honours) degree or Bachelor degree in Technology with an overall mark of at least 70%
Saudi Arabia	Bachelor degree with an overall mark of at least 70% or CGPA 3.5/5.0 or equivalent
South Korea	Bachelor degree from a leading university with CGPA of at least 3.5/4.0 or equivalent
Spain	Licenciado with a final mark of at least 2/4
Taiwan	Bachelor degree with overall mark of 70%-85% depending on your university
Thailand	Bachelor degree with CGPA of at least 3.0/4.0 or equivalent
Turkey	Lisans Diplomasi with CGPA of at least 3.0/4.0 depending on your university
United Arab Emirates	Bachelor degree with CGPA of at least 3.5/4.0 or equivalent
USA	Bachelor degree with CGPA 3.3-3.5/4.0 depending on your university
Vietnam	Masters degree with CGPA 3.5/4.0 or equivalent

If you have any questions about your qualifications after consulting our overseas qualifications, contact the University at E pg.enquiries@sussex.ac.uk

English language requirements

IELTS 6.5, with not less than 6.5 in Writing and 6.0 in the other sections. Internet TOEFL with 88 overall, with at least 20 in Listening, 20 in Reading, 22 in Speaking and 24 in Writing.

For more information, refer to English language requirements.

Additional admissions information

If you are a non-EEA student you must obtain clearance by the UK Government Academic Technology Approval Scheme (ATAS) for this degree. Please ensure you allow sufficient time for your university application to be considered and processed in time for you to apply for ATAS clearance and your Tier 4 visa.

PhD in Mathematics

UK entrance requirements

A first- or upper second-class undergraduate honours degree or an MSc in mathematics.

Overseas entrance requirements

If your country is not listed below, please contact the University at E pg.enquiries@sussex.ac.uk

Country	Overseas qualification
Australia	Bachelor (Honours) degree with second-class upper division
Brazil	Bacharel, Licenciado or professional title with a final mark of at least 8
Canada	Bachelor degree with CGPA 3.3/4.0 (grade B+)
China	Bachelor degree from a leading university with overall mark of 75%-85% depending on your university
Cyprus	Bachelor degree or Ptychion with a final mark of at least 7.5
France	Licence with mention bien or Maîtrise with final mark of at least 13
Germany	Bachelor degree or Magister Artium with a final mark of 2.4 or better
Ghana	Bachelor degree from a public university with second-class upper division
Greece	Ptychion from an AEI with a final mark of at least 7.5
Hong Kong	Bachelor (Honours) degree with second-class upper division
India	Bachelor degree from a leading institution with overall mark of at least 60% or equivalent
Iran	Bachelor degree (Licence or Karshenasi) with a final mark of at least 15
Italy	Diploma di Laurea with an overall mark of at least 105
Japan	Bachelor degree from a leading university with a minumum average of B+ or equivalent
Malaysia	Bachelor degree with class 2 division 1
Mexico	Licenciado with a final mark of at least 8
Nigeria	Bachelor degree with second-class upper division or CGPA of at least 3.0/4.0
Pakistan	Four-year bachelor degree, normally with a GPA of at least 3.3
Russia	Magistr or Specialist Diploma with a minimum average mark of at least 4
South Africa	Bachelor (Honours) degree or Bachelor degree in Technology with an overall mark of at least 70%
Saudi Arabia	Bachelor degree with an overall mark of at least 70% or CGPA 3.5/5.0 or equivalent
South Korea	Bachelor degree from a leading university with CGPA of at least 3.5/4.0 or equivalent
Spain	Licenciado with a final mark of at least 2/4
Taiwan	Bachelor degree with overall mark of 70%-85% depending on your university
Thailand	Bachelor degree with CGPA of at least 3.0/4.0 or equivalent
Turkey	Lisans Diplomasi with CGPA of at least 3.0/4.0 depending on your university
United Arab Emirates	Bachelor degree with CGPA of at least 3.5/4.0 or equivalent
USA	Bachelor degree with CGPA 3.3-3.5/4.0 depending on your university
Vietnam	Masters degree with CGPA 3.5/4.0 or equivalent

If you have any questions about your qualifications after consulting our overseas qualifications, contact the University at E pg.enquiries@sussex.ac.uk

English language requirements

IELTS 6.5, with not less than 6.5 in Writing and 6.0 in the other sections. Internet TOEFL with 88 overall, with at least 20 in Listening, 20 in Reading, 22 in Speaking and 24 in Writing.

For more information, refer to English language requirements.

Additional admissions information

If you are a non-EEA student you must obtain clearance by the UK Government Academic Technology Approval Scheme (ATAS) for this degree. Please ensure you allow sufficient time for your university application to be considered and processed in time for you to apply for ATAS clearance and your Tier 4 visa.

Related subjects

• Astronomy and cosmology
• Computing, artificial intelligence and IT
• Engineering and design
• Physics

Fees and funding

Fees

MPhil in Mathematics

Home UK/EU students: £3,900¹
Channel Island and Isle of Man students: £3,900²
Overseas students: £13,000³

¹ The fee shown is for the academic year 2013.
² The fee shown is for the academic year 2013.
³ The fee shown is for the academic year 2013.

PhD in Mathematics

Home UK/EU students: £3,900¹
Channel Island and Isle of Man students: £3,900²
Overseas students: £13,000³

¹ The fee shown is for the academic year 2013.
² The fee shown is for the academic year 2013.
³ The fee shown is for the academic year 2013.

Funding

The funding sources listed below are for the subject area you are viewing and may not apply to all degrees listed within it. Please check the description of the individual funding source to make sure it is relevant to your chosen degree.

Faculty interests

Research in the Department focuses on the non-mutually exclusive areas of: 

Analysis and partial differential equations

Dr Filippo Cagnetti Calculus of variations: isoperimetric inequalities, fracture evolution, second-order minimality conditions. 

Dr Miroslav Chlebík Geometric measure theory with applications to calculus of variation. Non-linear partial differential equations, existence and regularity theory, blow-up phenomena. 

Dr Masoumeh Dashti Partial differential equations, inverse problems, and mathematical theory of fluid mechanics. 

Dr Gabriel Koch Analysis of partial differential equations, Navier-Stokes equations of fluid dynamics, regularity theory for non-linear partial differential equations, harmonic analysis. 

Professor Michael Melgaard Analysis and PDEs with applications in physics and chemistry, non-linear equations arising in many-particle models of quantum chemistry. 

Dr Ali Taheri Calculus of variations, partial differential equations and topology. Sobolev spaces and mapping problems, critical point theory and topological invariants. 

Dr Qi Tang Mathematical and statistical modelling of financial, corporate and technological risks; analysing inference, tracking of trend, data fitting; and Monte-Carlo simulation of risk models. 

Dr Arghir Zarnescu Non-linear partial differential equations and related analysis issues, in particular physical models for complex and classical fluids.

Geometry

Dr Roger Fenn Knots, links, graphs, surfaces and 3-manifolds, and low-dimensional geometric topology and associated algebra. Typical examples are generalised braids and racks. 

Professor James Hirschfeld The combinatorics of finite projective spaces, classical algebraic and projective geometry. Links the abstract algebraic geometry of curves over finite fields with linear codes. 

Numerical analysis and scientific computing

Dr Bertram Düring Applied and financial mathematics; modelling, numerics and optimal control of partial differential equations. 

Dr Max Jensen Numerical analysis and solution of partial differential equations. Fully non-linear equations. Applications to finance, science and engineering. 

Dr Omar Lakkis Numerical analysis and scientific computing. Applications to materials science and phase transition problems. Computational stochastic differential equations. 

Professor Charalambos Makridakis Computational mathematics and numerical modeling. Adaptive methods for non-linear phenomena. 

Dr Vanessa Styles The analysis of systems of non-linear partial differential equations. The well-posedness, existence, uniqueness, regularity and long-time behaviour of solutions.

Mathematics applied to biology

Dr Konstantin Blyuss Mathematical biology and epidemiology, modelling of phase-change processes, nonlinear dynamics and chaos, stability of solitary waves. 

Dr Peter Giesl Dynamical systems. Analytical and numerical methods. Applications to biomechanics: stability of movements of the human musculoskeletal system. 

Dr István Kiss Mathematical modelling of infectious disease transmission and control. The implications of population contact network properties for disease invasion and epidemic control strategies. 

Dr Yuliya Kyrychko Mathematical modelling of real-life processes, delay differential equations and reaction-diffusion systems. 

Dr Anotida Madzvamuse Developing numerical techniques and algorithms to solve biological and medical problems. Bio-membranes, tumour growth, angiogenesis, cell deformation.

For more information, visit the Department of Mathematics.

Careers and perspectives

Our research degrees provide training and experience in advanced mathematical techniques, preparing you for a position in business, industry, government or an academic institution. 

School and contacts