Department of Mathematics and Applied Mathematics
ABOUT THE DEPARTMENT
Vision
To contribute to South Africa and the whole world through excellence in Mathematics and Applied Mathematics education and research
Mission
- To provide an environment where the students can learn and become independent, innovative thinkers and users of Mathematics and Mathematical applications.
- To provide a conducive environment for teaching, learning and research.
- To promote academic growth by offering undergraduate, postgraduate and doctoral programmes.
- To provide an atmosphere where high studies and research thrive amongst students and staff.
- To undertake projects which offer job opportunities for students from industries
Academic programme
Our degree is a full-time 3 year course. We also run a 4 year
extended curriculum programme.
Careers in Mathematics
We will be looking at two different sectors, namely:
- Industry
- Teaching and Research
Our degree
Our degree is a full-time 3 year course. We also run a 4 year extended curriculum programme.
- Mathematics I, II, III
- Applied Mathematics I, II, III
After graduating
After graduating, a student may choose to study towards:
- Honours in Mathematics and Applied Mathematics
- Masters of Science in Mathematics and Applied Mathematics
- PhD in Mathematics and Applied Mathematics
Career Paths
We attempt to answer this question that most parents, guardians and sponsors are concerned about.
Every company dictates its own titles. Depending on the industry you get attracted to and your specialisation, here are just a few titles given to Mathematicians in the industries:
Actuarial Analyst, Air Traffic Controller, Animator, Asset Manager, Business Analyst, Business Developer, Business Process Manager, Chartered Financial Analyst, Cost Management Analyst, Credit Analyst, Credit Portfolio Manager, Data Analyst, Data Manager, Data Modeller, Project Manager, Epidemiologist, Cryptologist, Demographer, Econometrist, Mathematical Statistician, Market Researcher, Software Developer and Engineer, Mathematical Modeller, Management Consultant, Meteorologist, Investment Executive, Derivatives Trader, Scorecard Analyst, Quality Assurer, Risk Manager, Systems Architect, Forensic Analyst, Strategic Specialist or Manager, Investment and Portfolio Manager, Stock Market Specialist, Financial Market Analyst, Quantitative Analyst…and many more, not forgetting the mother of all professions, Educator (Teacher, Lecturer, Doctor or Professor in Mathematical Sciences
Bridging the Gap
Mathematics being a pure subject, a student may need to take short, supplementary courses, such as programming, finance, management, etc, depending on which area they would like to venture into. The following are accredited websites and institutions that offer online courses and some of them are free:
- Udemy
- Coursera
- IBM
- UCT
- University of London (UCL)
- MIT
- Youtube
Industry
The industry consists of different sectors that depend upon our schools to produce well-educated and trained personnel in sufficient number. The sectors include:
- Finance and Commerce
- Engineering and Construction Industry
- IT-Information Technology
- Research Institutes
- Medical and Health Science
Careers in Finance and Commerce
These sectors offer different careers, and we are going to look at the ones that are mostly relevant to our current field of study. These are:
- Actuary
- Quantative Analysist
- Statistician
- Financial Analyst
- Credit Risk Analyst
And the possible employers are:
- Banks: Standard Bank, Nedbank, etc.
- Financial institutions: Delloite
- IT Companies: Vodacom, MTN, etc.
- Businesses: Starting your own consulting firm.
Careers in Medical and Health Science
Careers in this sector normally require a minimum qualification of MSc , they are as follows:
- Statistician, Biomathematician: Collecting and analysing data
- Research fields: Statistics, Optimization, Machine Learning, etc
Teaching and Research
These includes all academic and educational careers, such as:
- Mathematics Teacher
- Mathematics Lecturer/Professor
- Researcher
The following are research fields which are currently offered in SMU:
Topology, Symmetries of differential equations, Mathematics Education, Stochastic partial differential equations, Fixed point theory, Finite element method, Stochastic processes, Nonlinear partial differential equations, Interest model, Optimization, Applicable analysis, Graph theory, Data science, and Nonlinear functional analysis.
And the possible employers are:
- Research: Science and Research companies , such as CSIR, SANSA,
- SKA, Stats SA, etc
- Department of Education: Tutor (MSc required)
- Universities: UNISA Marking and Online Tutoring