Math is cult!

(Gero von Randow, DIE ZEIT, on occasion of the International
Congress of Mathematicians (ICM), August 1998 in Berlin)

Mathematics is a thousands-of-years-old cultural asset, and at the same time a varied and up-to-date subject to teach and research. Mathematics is ever-present, even if it’s often hardly visible in everyday life. It is a key technology of the information age.

A large technological university such as the TU Berlin offers special chances of cooperation between the disciplines of natural science and engineering science, and mathematical theoretical research.

Here at the department of mathematics we develop and examine mathematical models and new solution approaches as an answer to increasingly complex problems of modern technological sciences, engineering sciences and natural sciences.

The strength of mathematical methods is based on general and powerful modeling and corresponding in-depth structural knowledge. Thereby, we can fall back on knowledge and structures which have evolved over centuries, and develop new ideas and perspectives at the same time. New scientific technologies (for example, internet security and transport planning) pose challenging problems,  which fertilize mathematical research, leading to new questions, concepts and mathematical fields of research (such as cryptography, online-optimization and stochastic processes in the neurosciences).

The department of mathematics at TU Berlin is known as a highly active place for mathematical research and teaching.  The different research groups distinguish themselves through their diverse cooperations: within Berlin, nationwide and internationally. Hosting and participating in DFG mathematical research training groups (DFG-Graduiertenkollegs), participation in DFG collaborative research centers (SFB), hosting and participating in DFG research units, acquisition of ERC grants as well as various prizes and awards (among others a Humboldt Professorship), emphasize the high level and international reputation of the department.

The Berlin Mathematical School (BMS), a joint graduate school of the mathematics departments of the three major Berlin universities, is based at the department of mathematics at the University of Technology Berlin and has been funded since October 2006 within the framework of the German „Initiative for Excellence“.   The BMS offers students from Berlin, Germany and worldwide a rich and diverse educational program in English, fast-track intensive studies guide them directly from their Bachelor degree to their PhD.

The DFG Research Center MATHEON "Mathematics for key technologies" is a large joint initiative of the mathematical departments of the University of Technology Berlin, Humboldt University Berlin, and Free University of Berlin as well as the Zuse Institute Berlin (ZIB) and the Weierstrass Institute for Applied Analysis and Stochastics (WIAS), in which the Department of Mathematics at TU Berlin has a major role, as "the center of the Center" is situated on the third floor of the mathematics building.  Scientists in our department play a leading role in a wide range of interesting projects at MATHEON.

Studying at the University of Technology Berlin: Since Autumn 2006 the University of Technology Berlin offers the new Bachelor courses in mathematics as well as in technomathematics and mathematical economics. The Master courses in mathematics, technomathematics and mathematical economics as well as Scientific Computing commenced in Autumn 2007 and substitute the traditional degree courses.

Students at the University of Technology Berlin are offered every chance for a sound theoretical and practice-oriented education.  A manifold of possibilities exist during their studies where they are able to collaborate in exercises, authentic research problems in projects, e.g. within the scope of MATHEON.  Respectively, job prospects are excellent for graduates of our mathematical courses.

The department of mathematics at the University of Technology Berlin offers different attractive programs and possibilities for students to study abroad; these programs have high participation rates.

The Berlin Mathematical School offers a course program in English, which leads, in phase I from bachelor to qualifying exams and further in phase II to a PhD. This excellence program comprises of wide areas of so-called "pure" and "applied" mathematics. The BMS incorporates two new DFG research training groups as independent unities, thus providing unique possibilities for mathematics studies from the first semester to the PhD.

Every year we look forward to the many students from all over the world who are interested in using these chances!

We warmly welcome you to our website. On our department and its research groups web pages you will find extensive information about us, including our communication data for any further questions you may have and for your visit to us.

Prof. Dr. J. Blath
(Director of the Department of Mathematics)