• Athena SWAN Silver Award

    We’re committed to creating an inclusive and welcoming environment

  • 12th in UK

    for mathematics research

  • Over 100 partnerships

    We’ve worked with Boeing, Glaxo Smith Kline, World Health Organisation, Tesco, Southampton City Council and others

Overview

About the School of Mathematical Sciences

We conduct research, both curiosity-driven and impact-driven, in a broad range of pure and applied mathematics, statistics, theoretical physics and operational research.

We have flourishing research groups in:

  • data science 
  • geometric group theory
  • gravity 
  • mathematical biology
  • mathematical modelling
  • noncommutative geometry and operator algebras
  • operational research
  • statistics
  • string theory
  • sustainable energy and climate change mitigation
  • topology
  • topological data analysis

Our particular strength is the interdisciplinary ethos across the spectrum of our interests.

We teach a variety of undergraduate and postgraduate courses. In addition to modern mathematics, statistics, and combination courses, we offer actuarial mathematics that confers actuarial exemptions, finance, data science, and operational research courses. Our school has a dedicated large capacity space, the Maths Student Centre, dedicated to serve our undergraduate students’ learning needs.

Our students continue to exciting careers.

Impact and outreach

Both teaching and research benefit from our direct engagement with industry leaders.

We partner with over 100 international, national and local organisations. These include Boeing, GlaxoSmithKline, the World Health Organization, Tesco and Southampton City Council.

Recent examples of our real world impact include:

We're passionate about sharing our love of mathematics with the widest possible audience. We've been hosting the national Cipher Challenge, a competition for school teams from across the UK, for over 15 years. The STAG annual lecture series has hosted a number of Nobel Prize winners, and is accompanied by activities for school students on subjects related to the topic of the lecture.

Equality, diversity and inclusion

We're committed to creating and maintaining a diverse learning and research community.

Since receiving the Athena SWAN Silver Award, we've formulated a strategy to implement these principles in our daily life. Recent initiatives include:

London Mathematical Society (LMS) Levelling Up Scheme

We collaborate with local schools, encouraging students from under-represented groups to study science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) subjects at university.

Learn more about the Levelling Up Scheme

Steps to University for Mathematics Students (SUMS) enrichment days

In 2022, we hosted the inaugural SUMS enrichment day, to encourage more women to take maths at university. The day was open to all female and non-binary year 12 students taking A-level Maths, with priority for students from state schools. The day featured talks from female SoMS staff about A-levels, applying to university, and their own research and careers. Participants also talked to our undergraduate and postgraduate students. The event was so successful that similar events were rolled out nationally in 2023, as part of the Government-funded Advanced Mathematics Support Programme initiative, including one in Southampton in April 2023.

Learn more about enrichment days

British Council Women in STEM

We participate in the British Council Women in STEM programme, and have dedicated full MSc studentships for women from South Asia studying on our MSc programmes.

Learn more about the British Council's STEM scholarships

Athena SWAN Silver Award logo
Our Athena SWAN Silver Award shows our commitment to gender equality.

Our courses

Contribute to the field of mathematical sciences by completing a postgraduate research degree.

Research and business services

Explore our community, from the work of our research groups and centres to the services we provide for other organisations.

Our research community

Research institutes, centres and groups bring together specialists to share knowledge and solve problems.

People

Mathematics is a systematic way of thinking about complex problems.
Head of School

Work with us

  • Close-up of a young woman with long, curly dark hair writing equations on a whiteboard

    Jobs at Southampton

    Explore career options in the School of Mathematical Sciences, working at the forefront of scientific discovery and teaching.

Contact us

Get in touch, we’re happy to help

We welcome your queries by email.
School of Mathematical Sciences, Building 54, Highfield Campus, Southampton SO14 3ZH
We’re open Monday to Friday 9am to 5pm UK time

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