Applied & Interdisciplinary Mathematics Master's Degree

Application Information

Admission to the AIM M.S. program is determined by the AIM Graduate Committee and the Associate Chair for Graduate Studies in the Department of Mathematics. Successful applicants will demonstrate an interest in an interdisciplinary area of applied mathematics in addition to substantial mathematical ability. At present the AIM M.S. degree is mainly for students in the AIM MLB and AIM Ph.D. programs. Therefore, students not eligible for the AIM MLB program are encouraged to apply to the Applied Math M.S. program (i.e. M.S. Mathematics - Applied) instead of the AIM M.S. program.

To apply, please visit the MS Admissions page in the Department of Mathematics. Note that the material on that page under the heading of GENERAL REQUIREMENTS FOR ADMISSION refers to the Mathematics M.S. and Ph.D. programs, not to the AIM degree programs. Students applying for the Marjorie Lee Browne Scholars program should mark the appropriate box on the application form.

Financial Support

With the exception of applicants accepted into the Marjorie Lee Browne Scholars Program, there is unfortunately no financial support available from the Department of Mathematics for students applying to the AIM M.S. Program. Applicants are strongly encouraged to seek other sources of funding.

The AIM M.S. program requires only coursework, but the interdisciplinary nature of the training offered requires more courses than a typical master's program. AIM M.S. students also participate alongside the AIM Ph.D. students in the AIM Student Seminar (Math 501) for the first two semesters of study.

Counseling

AIM M.S. students will receive course counseling from the AIM Director. The Graduate Program Coordinator will process departmental and Rackham paperwork.  Information about minimum credits, cross-listed courses, etc. can be found in this Course Enrollment section of the Graduate Student Handbook.

Course Comments

At the end of the Fall and Winter semesters, the Graduate Office will send this Google Form requesting course comments from the graduate students’ course instructors.  Students will receive a report with the instructors’ course comments.

Basic Requirements

The AIM M.S. degree requires a total of 31 credits: nine regular courses (3 credits each) and 2 credits of the AIM Student Seminar (Math 501, to be taken in the first two semesters), with the remaining credits being composed of other approved graduate courses. Among the nine regular courses, the AIM M.S. program additionally requires:

• at least five AIM core courses
• at least two courses from a chosen partner field, or another field outside of mathematics.

All courses must be at the graduate level (400 level and above), and with the exception of Math 501 must be graded courses completed with a grade of at least B, with an overall average of B+. The AIM Program Director will supervise coursework selection for AIM M.S. students who do not have other mentors.

Additional Requirements

AIM M.S. Students accepted into the Marjorie Lee Browne Scholars Program will have additional requirements related to the enhanced content of that degree program:

• Students may participate in the RMF Connection, a summer program that focuses on successful transition to graduate study, access to campus resources, building personal networks, and developing research and scholarly expertise.
• From among the courses to be taken from the enhanced list of AIM core courses (see below), the study program must include at least three 500-level courses. The study program must also include
  • MATH 404 (Intermediate Differential Equations),
  • MATH 419 (Linear Spaces and Matrix Theory), and
  • MATH 451 (Advanced Calculus I),
  unless similar courses have been satisfactorily completed as part of the undergraduate degree.
• Students must participate in a research project with a faculty advisor. This research experience will culminate in an MLB scholars capstone course and minisymposium by students registering for 3 credits of Independent Study / Directed Reading and Research with their faculty advisor in the fourth term of the program. As a part of this course, students will work with their faculty advisors to finalize their research projects, produce a written summary of the work, and prepare an oral presentation of their results for the capstone minisymposium. Students will also meet as a group with the MLB Scholars program director once per month to discuss progress towards the completing the research component of the degree.

For students in the Marjorie Lee Browne Scholars Program, the list of AIM core courses from which at least five courses are required is enhanced to include in addition:

• MATH 404 (Intermediate Differential Equations)
• MATH 419 (Linear Spaces and Matrix Theory)
• MATH 451 (Advanced Calculus I)
• MATH 454 (Boundary Value Problems for Partial Differential Equations)