The Department of Mathematics offers programs of study that lead both to Ph.D. and M.S. degrees. The department plans to admit students to the following programs and tracks.

The traditional doctoral program of the department currently has over 120 students seeking a Ph.D. degree. Active areas of study and research include algebra and number theory, algebraic and differential geometry, topology, combinatorics and group theory, representation theory, logic, probability theory, classical and modern analysis, dynamical systems and ergodic theory, applied mathematics, mathematical biology, ordinary and partial differential equations, scientific computing, and actuarial science. Currently we expect to admit between 15 and 20 students each year. Expected time to degree five to six years depending on initial preparations.

In recent times the number of graduations ranged between 18 and 10 with Ph.D. dissertations [1]. Graduates move on to competitive post-doctoral positions major research universities, faculty positions in colleges across the United States, as well as leadership position in the public and private sector, including, for example, NSA, software industry, or actuarial employment.

The department expects to admit about students into specialization tracks of its masters program. There are currently six students in the M.S. program and we expect to admit six for each specialization each year. The expected time to degree is two years. We currently offer the following specializations:

Additional M.S. specializations in Mathematical Finance and Computational Sciences are planned for the coming years. A generic M.S. degree outside of these specializations is open to students who have been admitted with Ph.D.-degree intent.

There are currently 65 regular mathematics faculty on the Columbus campus as well as several branch campus faculty who teach graduate courses and direct graduate theses. Their information and research areas can be found on the Graduate Faculty List [2] as well as our directory [2]. Prospective as well as current students are invited to contact them for more information about their research.

Faculty are active in about every area of mathematics and groups collaborate within the department as well as with groups from other departments on campus. Many are leaders within their research areas - in both the recent and coming International Congress of Mathematics the department was represented with at least three speakers. The Ohio State research program in mathematics is ranked 15th among public universities in the United States (NRC).

The graduate curriculum of the department includes courses starting at the preparatory master's level leading up to advanced research topics courses in all major areas of mathematics. The available courses can be found on our Graduate Course List [2] which also lists several syllabi, as well as the University Bulletin [2] with brief descriptions. Syllabi of our "core courses" at the introductory Ph.D.-level can be found here [Array]. Course offerings each year with instructors can be looked up on our Proposed Course Lists [2].

Imminently planned changes to the curriculum include several new courses at the masters level as well as a revisions of the topology/geometry sequences which are expected to be implemented by 2010. At any time graduate students can sign up for independent study, reading and research courses with one of our many regular faculty members.

In addition there are many regular research seminars and colloquia in the department - see our calendar [2]. Among them are also seminars and working groups organized by graduate students, for example, in number theory, algebraic geometry, and ergodic theory. In addition, the Invitation to Mathematics [3] lecture series serves as a student colloquium in which faculty expose graduate students to research areas in mathematics and possible thesis topics.

The department currently ranks 4th in NSF/DMS funding among mathematics departments in the United States. It houses the Mathematics Research Institute [4], which supports visitors, workshops and seminars, as well as (jointly with the Department of Statistics) the NSF funded Mathematical Biosciences Institute (MBI) [5]. In addition the department is home of the prestigious Journal of Number Theory and the Journal of Approximation Theory.

All supported graduate students have their own desks in shared office spaces, including access to well maintained desktop computers in each office and wireless access throughout the department. Students and faculty with more serious computing needs have access to university high performance computers as well as computing classes.

The Science & Engineering Library [6] contains more than 350,000 volumes and currently receives more than 2,750 serial titles. It is integrated in the campus wide library system [7] and part of the OhioLink [8] system which gives students and faculty access to 48 million library items and 12 thousand journals. Additionally, the Interlibrary Services [9] allows to have any articles and book chapters scanned and emailed regardless of local availability. Thus essentially any scholarly material is accessible or can be conveniently delivered.