Graduate Program

Department of Mathematics, Duke University

Application Process:

The graduate school web page states that applications for admission and financial aid beginning in Fall 2005 must be submitted by December 31, 2004. However, it is the Mathematics Department that actually reads the applications and makes the initial admissions decisions. If we receive all of your materials by the end of third week of January, 2005 then you will receive full consideration from the Mathematics Department.

The graduate application is completely electronic, and is administered by the graduate school. The list of application materials required by the graduate school is available at the Duke graduate school admissions website. The graduate school requires the all of the following for a complete application:

• The University's electronic application
• The application fee (see below),
• 3 (or more) letters of recommendation,
• Official confidential transcripts from all undergraduate institutions attended (including exchange student study),
• GRE Mathematics subject test
• GRE General test (Graduate Record Examination) score(s) (report code 5156),
• For students whose native language is not English, an English language proficiency test (either TOEFL or IELTS is accepted, but IELTS is preferred)

For applicants to the Fall 2005 semester, we are offering a reduced application fee of $65 to all applicants to the Mathematics Ph.D. program. If you choose to pay by credit card, you will be automatically charged $65 for the application fee. If you elect to pay by check when submitting an electronic application, send a check for $65 with your supporting documents.

Please contact the Department of Mathematics directly at dgs-math@math.duke.edu with any questions or problems about this procedure.

Overview of the Department:

The Duke Mathematics Department currently comprises 24 tenured and tenure track faculty, 7 research faculty, 11 teaching faculty, 7 postdocs, several visiting faculty , and 42 graduate students. The faculty include leading researchers in analysis and differential equations, applied mathematics, differential and algebraic geometry, mathematical physics, probability, and topology. All graduate students in the doctoral program are supported by Duke funds, and all graduate students supported by Duke funds are in the doctoral program.

Graduate student research interests span the research interests of the department, which include significant areas of pure and applied mathematics. More information about our collective interests can by found by consulting our research interests page. Duke University research centers in which members of the Department and graduate students are active include:

• Center for Emerging Cardiovascular Technologies
• Center for Geometric Computing
• Center for Hydrologic Science
• Center for Nonlinear and Complex Systems
• Program in Computational Science and Engineering

Coursework and Examinations:

Students are given two different examinations before beginning thesis research. The first exam is called the qualifying examination. This examination consists of two parts:

• written examinations in undergraduate analysis and linear algebra
• an oral examination on two basic graduate topics chosen by the student.

The student then seeks an advisor and prepares for the preliminary exam . This is an oral exam on material relevant to the student's intended dissertation area. This exam is usually taken during the third year.

After successful completion of the preliminary exam, the student does original research and writes a dissertation which is defended in the final exam. Almost all of our students finish in 5 years.

Financial Support and Teaching:

Beginning with the 2005-6 school year, first-year students will begin teacher training in the fall of their first year. The Duke teacher training program is well-designed to prepare graduate students for teaching calculus. By beginning teacher training in the first year, the hope is that the incoming graduate students will begin to feel more like mathematics professionals, rather than just advanced students.

Graduate students begin teaching duties by assisting with calculus labs. They teach their own section of a class beginning in the year following teacher training. Graduate students participate in teacher training seminars and workshops to facilitate their entry into the classroom.

The graduate student stipend for academic year 2005-06 is $17,100. From this, a student must pay around $1,200 for health insurance if they have none. All other fees (tuition, registration, etc.) are included in the scholarship.

In addition we have been successful the past several years in providing summer support to all students who will be in residence during the summer (aside from a one month vacation) and who have an approved plan of study under supervision of a faculty member. For summer 2004 the stipend was $3,500; grading or teaching duties are sometimes required.

Visiting the Duke Mathematics Department:

Prospective students may find the directions to the Duke Mathematics Department useful in planning travel.

Further Information:

• home page of our graduate program
• Duke University Graduate School
• Resources for Prospective Students
• The Graduate-Faculty Seminar --- a seminar for graduate students
• Duties of a graduate teaching assistant
• Faculty research interests
• Mathematics courses this semester
• The Chronicle, the student newspaper
• DevilNet, Duke's virtual community
• Durham, NC
• The News and Observer, one local newspaper
• The Herald-Sun, another local newspaper

Please direct requests for information to Georgia Barnes, Staff Assistant, dgsa-math@math.duke.edu

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