About
Program Highlights
- The Department of Mathematics has a distinguished international faculty, including multiple International Congress of Mathematicians speakers.
- The department has a variety of research groups: geometric group theory, geometry/topology, approximation theory, number theory, non-commutative geometry, operator algebras, gravitation and waves, mathematical biology, partial differential equations, and graph theory.
- The stimulating research environment is supported by an ongoing program that attracts visiting scholars from institutions around the world and hosts several major conferences a year, including the Shanks Conferences.
- The Department of Mathematics is large enough to support a wide range of courses, but small enough for students to receive individual attention from faculty members.
- We have multi-tier small research groups, where faculty, postdocs and graduate students work closely together.
- Our department is very collegial and supportive.
- Graduate students are given one to two years of training to teach at the college level. After that period, they generally serve as TAs and eventually instructors in calculus classes. This opportunity provides valuable experience in communication, even for students who do not pursue careers in academia.
- Our graduate students are successful in securing jobs.
- Nashville offers the amenities of a large city and the friendliness of a small town
Graduate Student Teaching
First-year graduate students tutor math students both through tutoring services and the math department’s Calculus Cafe. In the fall they complete tutoring training and in the spring they participate in a weekly teaching seminar to prepare for their work as TAs.
Second and third-year students serve as TAs. Responsibilities include attending class meetings, conducting a weekly recitation section, holding office hours, and grading papers.
Fourth and fifth-year students with good teaching evaluations and strong recommendations from their faculty mentors may be allowed to teach a first-year calculus course.
Facilities
As an R1 institution, Vanderbilt’s libraries are among the top research libraries in the nation, home to more than eight million items, including print publications, microfilm items, and digital collections.
The mathematics collection is housed in the Sarah Shannon Science and Engineering Library, conveniently located in the math building. This collection is excellent, both in books and access to electronic resources, including e-journals and online databases such as MathSciNet and Web of Science. Items not available locally can be borrowed through interlibrary loan, which is free of charge to graduate students.
Computational resources available to graduate students include access to cutting-edge AI technology and to the university’s large cluster and desktop computers equipped with computer algebra software. Graduate students may use these facilities freely for research, writing, and teaching.
Furthermore, the graduate students’ office suite is a newly renovated state-of-the-art facility.
Housing
Ample private housing is available within walking distance of the campus. The Office of Housing and Residential Education maintains an off-campus housing referral service.