Course summary

In a career as a statistics researcher, you can help solve problems in areas ranging from banking to healthcare. You’ll be trained to use the tools and software professional statisticians use and complete a major research project in your final year. Join some of the best statisticians to find the patterns in huge datasets, draw conclusions – and imagine creative solutions. A Mathematics and Statistics MMath from University of Sheffield prepares you for a career as a statistics researcher, where you can help solve problems found in everything, from finance to healthcare and medicine. Beginning with the essentials in year one opens the door to those concepts that will shape the rest of degree – calculus, algebra, modelling, data science and more. As you progress, you’ll add advanced techniques, develop programming skills using Python and R, and learn to present your work as a professional mathematician using LaTeX. In your second year we’ll show you how to apply your statistics knowledge to increasingly complex problems, through statistical modelling and computer simulations. You can also continue to study topics in pure maths, such as group theory and algebra. By your third year, you’ll have the skills, knowledge and experience to go in lots of different directions – and a choice of modules to support whichever path you choose. We’ll train you in how to design experiments and collect data, how statistics are used in clinical trials of new drugs and how data can predict the likely outcome of an event. Your final year comes with more opportunities – including summer research placements – where you can work with our mathematicians to tackle a complex research question. You’ll spend a third of your time working on, writing up and presenting your own research project with an expert in your chosen area. With this degree as your first step, a job in the finance, technology or big data economy will soon follow. Why study this course?

• Leading maths research - 96% of our research is rated as world-leading or internationally excellent, according to the Research Excellence Framework 2021.

• Real-world problem solving - research unanswered questions and learn by tackling real-world problems in subjects ranging from algebraic geometry, number theory and mathematical biology.

• Everyone is welcome - there’s a place at Sheffield for everyone who enjoys mathematics. Find a warm welcome at our active student society (SUMS), regular maths challenges, and a dedicated LGBT+ student group for maths students.

• Set up for a successful career - careers and employability skills are built into our maths degree programmes, and major employers like Goldman Sachs, Unilever, and the NHS hire our graduates to solve problems.

• Extended research projects - summer placements and a final year project will help you hone those software skills, so you’ll know how to present maths and statistics and other technical information.