Doctorate in Mathematics (PhD)
Our PhD program is small and selective and leads to a doctorate degree in pure mathematics. We recruit outstanding students from around the world and train them to be effective teachers and cutting-edge researchers. You will find our strengths in algebra, analysis, topology, number theory and combinatorics. (We do not yet offer a PhD program in applied mathematics although this may change in the coming years.)
Why Brandeis?
The math department combines the informality and flexibility of a small department with the intellectual vigor of a faculty whose research accomplishments have placed it among the top departments in the country. The result is an active dialogue among all members of the department and a general air of living, creative mathematics. Our coursework gives you a broad foundation in modern pure mathematics.
An essential part of the PhD program consists of seminars on a variety of topics of current interest in which mathematicians from greater Boston often participate. Just beyond Brandeis, you'll find an extended mathematical community of great diversity and depth. In addition to attending lectures, seminars and colloquia, you'll have many opportunities to connect with mathematicians at Boston College, Boston University, Harvard, MIT and Northeastern, to name a few.
Careers and Alumni
Brandeis PhDs in mathematics follow in the footsteps of eminent scholars. Our alumni include:
- Leslie Lamport MA’63, PhD’72, H’17 received the 2013 A.M. Turing Award from the Association for Computing Machinery
- János Kollár PhD’84, a co-recipient of the 2017 Shaw Prize in Mathematical Sciences, which honors breakthroughs by researchers in the fields of mathematics, astronomy, and life science and medicine.
- Nick Wadleigh PhD’17 and Matthew Cordes PhD’16, both recipients of Zuckerman STEM Leadership postdocs awards.
- Karen Keskulla Uhlenbeck MA'66, PhD'68 is the distinguished recipient of the MacArthur Prize Fellowship (1983), Noether Lecture (1988), National Medal of Science for Mathematics and Computer Science (2000), the Guggenheim Fellowship for Natural Sciences, US & Canada (2001), and the American Mathematical Society's Leroy P Steele Prize (2007).
