Mathematics and Science-Based Business

Specialisation of: Mathematics
Degree: Master of Science in Mathematics
Mode of Study: Full-time
Duration: 2 years
Start date: Flexible, but preferably in September or February
Language of instruction: English
Location: Leiden
Croho/isat code: 66980
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This combination of science and business will both train you as a researcher in Mathematics and prepare you for going into industry and business. In close co-operation with senior research staff, you will do your own research project. Courses on theory on the frontier of science will further enhance your knowledge. In a networked and case-based programme on management, business and entrepreneurship you will learn about running science-driven companies and exploiting business opportunities created in research. Your newly acquired knowledge and skills you will apply and enhance further in a company internship or business assignment.

Reasons to Choose Mathematics and Science Based Business in Leiden:

  1. Strong and active interdisciplinary network provides ample opportunity to join seminars and research projects to collaborate with researchers in other fields, like physics, astronomy, computer science, medicine, biology and psychology.
  2. You have considerable freedom to tailor your master programme to your personal interests and ambitions.
  3. A degree that qualifies for enrolment in a Ph.D. programme in a science discipline
  4. Research training enhances a multitude of personal skills crucial for effectively operating in both a research and a business environment.
  5. An internship programme that bridges the gap between the science curriculum and the career opportunities in industry and business.
  6. The collaboration with companies on the Bio Science Park, one of the biggest in Europe and breeding ground for science research-based companies.
  7. Admission is possible throughout the year. International students are advised to start in January or September.
Photo mathematics

Prof. Bas Edixhoven

“I treat my students as PhD candidates.”

“Our classroom is international; at least half our students come from outside Europe with an Erasmus Mundus Scholarship. As professor of Arithmetical Geometry, I want to challenge students with tailor-made training: they can agree reading courses with me, separate from the curriculum. We talk about a particular issue in a one-to-one situation.

I treat my students as PhD candidates. Everything which we offer this last category, we also offer these students. For example, they can take part in workshops which are part of the Stieltjes Educational Weeks, organised by the Thomas Stieltjes Institute, in which Leiden University participates. This is one of the two research schools in mathematics in the Netherlands. We also work closely with the other, MRI, and we have a close co-operation with the University of Paris-Sud in Orsay. The latter is, in my field, the most prestigious mathematical institute in the world, which has produced a number of Fields Medals – the equivalent of the Nobel Prize for Mathematics. If they wish, students can study a year in Leiden, then in Orsay, or in Bordeaux or Padua, or vice versa. They are awarded a diploma from both institutes.

One of our professors is a Spinoza prize-winner; and in 2004 I was awarded a Vici grant by NWO. We are an ambitious team which also organises seminars, such as the Intercity Number Theory Seminar at which researchers present their latest findings. We want to prepare our students to participate in this seminar.”