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, (and Dutch for "Education" and "Communication" tracks)
Location: Leiden
Croho/isat code: 66980
Specialisations:
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The Master’s programme in Mathematics in Leiden has an outspoken double focus on both analysis and number theory.
Analysis is centered around two main research themes. First, computational science and dynamical systems (as is testified by our active participation in a broader interdisciplinary Biomathematics Group) and secondly, analysis and probability.
There is intensive co-operation with other groups. For any student who wants to specialise in one of these areas, Leiden is an excellent possibility.
Number theory in Leiden is part of a broader programme including cryptology, algebra and geometry. All these disciplines should be understood here in the widest possible sense: there are specialisations ranging from analytic number theory to differential geometry, and from combinatorics to topology. All researchers in the present group have intensive contacts with colleagues from outside Leiden, within the Netherlands, but also abroad.

What Leiden can offer you

If you are considering pursuing a Master of Science in Mathematics, Leiden is a very good choice. You will be hosted in one of the leading research groups in mathematics in the Netherlands. Another strong point is our personal approach. Our programmes will be tailor-made according to your wishes, depending on your individual background and your personal aims. It will be our interest to offer you a significant deepening of your knowledge, and to broaden your enthusiasm for mathematics.

Students who have obtained a Master of Science degree in Mathematics possess a thorough theoretical basis, know how to work in a multinational environment, and are able to operate well on the international market. Courses are taught at a high level, and each of the master’s tracks ends with an individual research project combined with a master thesis.

The Leiden Mathematical Institute

The Leiden Mathematical Institute is a modern institute aiming at excellence both in research and in education. Many well-known Dutch mathematicians work and have worked here, such as, for example, analyst Thomas J. Stieltjes, who gave his name to the Stieltjes integral, and number theorist Hendrik D. Kloosterman, who was the inventor of the Kloosterman sum. The influence of both these mathematicians can still be felt today, with the Institute’s distinct dual focus on both analysis and number theory.

The Leiden Mathematical Institute is partner in the Lorentz Center, an international research centre for Astronomy, Computer Science, Mathematics, Physics and Bio Sciences. It hosts the Directorate of the Stieltjes Institute, an association of the several mathematics departments in The Netherlands. Moreover, there are intensive collaborations both in research and education with the Center for Mathematics and Computer Science in Amsterdam and with EURANDOM located in Eindhoven.

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.”