Author Archives: kasmana

Mathematics with Computation is the First PhD Program at CofC!

The College of Charleston now is offering doctoral degrees for the first time in its history!  Mathematics with Computation is a unique PhD program designed which admits only students who already hold a master’s degree in the mathematical sciences (or its equivalent). The program provides a research degree compatible with academic and industry careers. Students will develop theoretical advances combined with computational tools leading to publishable research, algorithms or other products contributing to the advancement of mathematical knowledge.

Not only are we excited to announce this new program, we are also pleased to welcome the first doctoral student at the College of Charleston.  Lauren Tubbs, who earned undergraduate and master’s degrees in mathematics at CofC, has been admitted as the first student in the new program and will be starting in the Fall 2023 semester.

For more information:

  • Degree requirements for the new doctoral program.
  • (Temporary) Online Application for the Mathematics with Computation PhD program.
  • A CofC Today article with more information about the program and how it came to be can be found here.

Congratulations to Student Award Recipients

The Department of Mathematics is proud to announce the names of the recipients of our annual student awards:

Ewa Wojcicka Award: Terence Carey
Scott Ward Award: Calvin Widholm
Sue Prazak Scholarship: Annika Musick
Harrison Randolph Calculus Award: Whitney Kitchen
Undergraduate Outstanding Students: Terence Carey, Rafael Castellanos-Ramos, Tyler Glynn, Riley Haas, Patrick Puckhaber, David Robinson, Kamryn Schemine, Hailey Sparks, Thomas Stanton, and Calvin Widholm.
Best MASC Thesis Award: Luke Paluso
Best MASC Grad Assistant: Naomi Woodbury
Outstanding Graduate Student: Luke Paluso

Join us to celebrate their achievements in person at the SSME Annual Student Awards Ceremony on Thursday in RITA 101-103, 4pm-5:30pm.

Congrats to Math/Stat Students in Poster Session

The recent EXPO of student research featured three students from our department.

Lane Ellisor won a prize for his poster on “The effects of damping on rogue wave formation and permanent downshifting.”

Briana Brunson is earning a master’s degree in mathematical sciences from our graduate program and gave a presentation based on her thesis analyzing raindrop data: “Comparing partitioning methods for rainfall“.

Finally, Will Myrick (who is a math major as well as a data science major) won a prize for his poster about his data science project “Drowsiness detection using a convolutional neural network“.

We are grateful to all three students for making the extra effort to participate in this event and proud of their impressive research results.

Brianna Brunson, Lane Ellisor, and Will Myrick presenting their student research projects

Graduate Funding Still Available

The Mathematical Sciences Graduate Program at the College of Charleston offers master’s degrees in mathematics and statistics (as well as certificates in statistics and operations research).   Even though our application deadline has officially passed, we are still accepting new students with financial support.  

Let me tell you a bit more about us:
  • Our program is very good for students who want to earn a PhD in the mathematical sciences but do not yet have the qualifications to get into their desired programs.  We get them ready for those programs with coursework and an optional master’s thesis.  Last year, our graduates enrolled in PhD programs at Duke University and North Carolina State University.
  • Our program is also a good choice for students who whose aim is to earn a master’s degree before beginning a career.  Since we have no PhD students here, our master’s and certificate students receive our full attention.   Alumni of our program work as mathematicians, statisticians, and analysts at places like Citibank in New York, the Naval Information Warfare Center in North Charleston, Boeing, the Medical University of South Carolina, IBM, and Booz Allen Hamilton.  Others with just an MS from our program are teaching at places like St. Edwards University, Trident Technical College and Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College.
  • Because our faculty are internationally recognized in our fields of research, our reputations and connections help alumni of our program find good jobs or admission to doctoral programs at other institutions.
  • Most of our students receive financial support in the form of a graduate assistantship or fellowship.
  • As I mentioned above, we have degree and certificate programs in statistics, operations research, and mathematics (both pure and applied).  It is our belief that whichever one of these is your primary area of interest, you will benefit from learning about all of them and their connections.
  • Check out these videos of alumni talking about our program and their career paths
  • Finally, let us mention that Charleston is a wonderful city to live in and the College of Charleston has a beautiful campus.  Our program consists mostly of in-person classes, so you can really enjoy all of the advantages of this wonderful city and campus.

If you want more information, please send email to kasmana@cofc.edu or lij@cofc.edu with any questions you may have or click here for more program information.

And, if you are ready to apply, use this application link.