Our world-class research in pure and applied mathematics, theoretical physics, operational research and statistics informs our teaching and industrial collaborations.
Athena SWAN Silver Award
We’re committed to creating an inclusive and welcoming environment
We’ve worked with Boeing, Glaxo Smith Kline, World Health Organisation, Tesco, Southampton City Council and others
Overview
About the School of Mathematical Sciences
We conduct research, both curiosity-driven and impact-driven, in a broad range of pure and applied mathematics, statistics, theoretical physics and operational research.
We have flourishing research groups in:
data science
geometric group theory
gravity
mathematical biology
mathematical modelling
noncommutative geometry and operator algebras
operational research
statistics
string theory
sustainable energy and climate change mitigation
topology
topological data analysis
Our particular strength is the interdisciplinary ethos across the spectrum of our interests.
We teach a variety of undergraduate and postgraduate courses. In addition to modern mathematics, statistics, and combination courses, we offer actuarial mathematics that confers actuarial exemptions, finance, data science, and operational research courses. Our school has a dedicated large capacity space, the Maths Student Centre, dedicated to serve our undergraduate students’ learning needs.
Our students continue to exciting careers.
Impact and outreach
Both teaching and research benefit from our direct engagement with industry leaders.
We partner with over 100 international, national and local organisations. These include Boeing, GlaxoSmithKline, the World Health Organization, Tesco and Southampton City Council.
We're passionate about sharing our love of mathematics with the widest possible audience. We've been hosting the national Cipher Challenge, a competition for school teams from across the UK, for over 15 years. The STAG annual lecture series has hosted a number of Nobel Prize winners, and is accompanied by activities for school students on subjects related to the topic of the lecture.
Equality, diversity and inclusion
We're committed to creating and maintaining a diverse learning and research community.
Since receiving the Athena SWAN Silver Award, we've formulated a strategy to implement these principles in our daily life. Recent initiatives include:
London Mathematical Society (LMS) Levelling Up Scheme
We collaborate with local schools, encouraging students from under-represented groups to study science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) subjects at university.
Steps to University for Mathematics Students (SUMS) enrichment days
In 2022, we hosted the inaugural SUMS enrichment day, to encourage more women to take maths at university. The day was open to all female and non-binary year 12 students taking A-level Maths, with priority for students from state schools. The day featured talks from female SoMS staff about A-levels, applying to university, and their own research and careers. Participants also talked to our undergraduate and postgraduate students. The event was so successful that similar events were rolled out nationally in 2023, as part of the Government-funded Advanced Mathematics Support Programme initiative, including one in Southampton in April 2023.
We participate in the British Council Women in STEM programme, and have dedicated full MSc studentships for women from South Asia studying on our MSc programmes.
