Overview

ThePh.D.degreesinMathematicsandinAtmosphere-OceanScienceandMathematicsare
opentostudentswhowishtopursue acareerinacademicresearchandteaching,aswellas
intheprivateandpublicsectors.Consistentwithitsscientificbreadth,theInstitutewelcomes
applicants whoseprimarybackgroundisinquantitativefieldssuchaseconomics,
engineering,physics,orbiology,aswellasmathematics.Doctoralstudentstakeadvanced
coursesintheirareasofspecialization,followedbyaperiodofresearchandthepreparation
anddefenseofthedoctoralthesis.
TheGraduateDepartmentofMathematicsattheCourantInstituteoffersbalancedtraining in
mathematicsanditsapplicationsinthebroadestsense.TheDepartmentoccupiesaleading
positioninpureandappliedmathematics,especiallyinordinaryandpartialdifferential
equations,probabilitytheoryandstochasticprocesses,differentialgeometry,numerical
analysisandscientificcomputation,mathematicalphysics,materialscience,fluiddynamics,
mathbiology,AtmosphereandOceanscience,andComputationalBiology.

Degree
Requirements
AcandidateforthePh.D.degreeinmathematicsmustfulfillanumberofdifferent
departmentalrequirements:
72 pointsofcredit
awrittencomprehensiveexamination
an oralpreliminaryexamination
an oraldefenseofthedissertation

Coursework
AllstudentsinthePh.D.programmustcomplete72pointsofcredits(24coursesof3points
each).Itis
possible,withdepartmentalpermission,totakecourses,relevanttostudents'
courseofstudy,inotherdepartmentsatNYUoratotheruniversities.Abaseminimumof32
pointsofcreditsmustbecompletedattheDepartmentofMathematics.Informationon
potentialtransferofcreditiscontainedintheforthcomingsectiononGSASand
DepartmentalPoliciesandProcedures.

The
Written
Comprehensive
Examination
Theexaminationteststhebasicknowledgerequiredforanyseriousmathematicalstudy.It
consistsofthethreefollowingsections:AdvancedCalculus,ComplexVariables,andLinear
Algebra.Theexaminationisgivenontwoconsecutivedays,twiceayear,inearly
SeptemberandearlyJanuary.Each sectionisallottedthreehoursandiswrittenatthelevel
ofagoodundergraduatecourse.Samplesofpreviousexaminationsareavailableinthe
departmentaloffice.Cooperativepreparationisencouraged,asitisforallexaminations.In
thefallterm,theDepartmentoffersaworkshop,taughtbyanadvancedTeachingAssistant,
tohelpstudentsprepareforthewrittenexaminations.
Enteringstudentswithasolidpreparationareencouragedtoconsidertakingthe
examinationintheirfirstyearoffull-timestudy.Allstudentsmusttaketheexaminationsin
ordertobeallowedtoregisterforcourseworkbeyond36pointsofcredit;itisrecommended
thatstudentsattempttotaketheexaminationswellbeforethisdeadline.GraduateAssistants
arerequiredtotaketheexaminationsduringtheirfirstyearofstudy.

The
Oral
Preliminary
Examination
Thisexaminationisusually(butnotinvariably)takenaftertwoyearsoffull-timestudy.The
purposeoftheexaminationistodetermineifthecandidatehasacquiredsufficient
mathematicalknowledgeandmaturitytocommenceadissertation.Thephrase
"mathematicalknowledge"isintendedtoconveyratherbroadacquaintancewiththebasic
factsofmathematicallife,withemphasisonagoodunderstandingofthesimplestinteresting
examples.Inparticular,highlytechnicalorabstractmaterialisinappropriate,asistherote
reproductionofinformation.Whattheexaminerslookforissomethingalittledifferentand
lesseasytoquantify.Itisconveyedinpartbytheword"maturity."Thismeanssomeideaof
howmathematicshangstogether;theabilitytothinkalittleonone'sfeet;someappreciation
ofwhatisnaturalandimportant,and whatisartificial.Thepointisthattheabilitytodo
successful researchdependsonmorethanformallearning,anditispartoftheexaminers'
tasktoassesstheselesstangibleaspectsofthecandidate'spreparation.
Theoralsarecomprisedofageneralsectionandaspecialsection,eachlastingonehour,
andareconductedbytwodifferentpanelsofthreefacultymembers.Theexaminationtakes
placethreetimesayear:fall,mid-winterandlatespring.Cooperativepreparationofoften
helpfulandisencouraged.Thegeneralsectionconsistsoffivetopics,oneofwhichmaybe
chosenfreely.Theotherfourtopicsaredeterminedbyfieldofinterest,butoftenturnoutto
bestandard:complexvariables,realvariables,ordinarydifferentialequations,andpartial
differential equations.Here,thelevel ofknowledgethatisexpectedisequivalenttothatofa
oneortwo termcourseofthekindCourantnormallypresents.Abrochurecontainingthe
mostcommonquestionsonthegeneraloralexamination,editedbyCourantstudents,is
availableattheDepartmentOffice.
Thespecialsectionisusuallydevotedtoasingletopicatamoreadvancedlevelandextent
ofknowledge.Theprecisecontentisnegotiatedwithhecandidate'sfacultyadvisor.
Normally,thechosentopicwillhaveadirectbearingonthecandidate'sPh.D.dissertation.
Allstudentsmusttaketheoralexaminationsinordertobeallowedtoregisterforcoursework
beyond60 pointsofcredit.Itisrecommendedthatstudentsattempttheexaminationswell
beforethis deadline.

The
Dissertation
Defense
Theoraldefenseisthefinalexaminationonthestudent'sdissertation.Thedefenseis
conductedbyapaneloffivefacultymembers(includingthestudent'sadvisor)andgenerally
lastsonetotwohours.Thecandidatepresentshis/herworktoamixedaudience,some
expertinthestudent'stopic,somenot.Often,thispresentationisfollowedbya
question-and-answerperiodandmutualdiscussionofrelatedmaterialanddirectionsfor
futurework.
Doctor
of
Philosophy
GraduateSchoolRequirements:
Completionof72pointsofgraduatecredit(atleast32inresidenceattheGraduate
School)andacumulativeGPAofB(3.0)orbetter.
Successfulcompletionofcomprehensiveorqualifyingexaminationsortheir
equivalent.
Presentationanddefenseofadissertation.Thedissertationtopicmustreceive
formaldepartmentalapproval beforebeingundertaken.Thedissertationmust
demonstrateasoundmethodologyandevidenceofexhaustivestudyofaspecial
fieldandmakeanoriginalcontributiontothatfield.Whenthedissertationis
completedandapprovedbytheadviserandtwootherreaders,anoraldefenseis
scheduledbeforeacommitteeofatleastfivemembers.Ofthefivecommittee
members,aminimumofthreemustbefull-timemembersoftheFacultyofArtsand
Science.Asuccessfuldefenserequiresthatnomorethanonememberofthe
committeevotestonotapproveit.
TimeLimitforthePh.D.Degree:Allrequirementsforthedoctoraldegreemustbe
completednolaterthantenyearsfromtheinitialdateofmatriculationorsevenyears
fromthetimeofmatriculationifthestudententersthePh.D.programhavingbeen
giventransfercreditformorethan23points.

Sources:
[1]http://math.nyu.edu/dynamic/phd/
[2]
http://gsas.nyu.edu/content/nyu-as/gsas/academics/bulletin/admission-registration-and-degr
ee-requirements.html