Course summary

Mathematics and statistics underpin all aspects of modern life: advances in science, innovations in medicine, new technology, and business. This Master's programme provides a comprehensive, advanced study, while allowing you to experience a new culture overseas. Mathematics and statistics allow us to understand our world at the most fundamental level. Studying these subjects provides us with information in its purest form, giving us answers to problems from all aspects of life. You can learn to study and predict patterns and changes in everything, including human behaviour, plant growth, chemical reactions, and stocks and shares. During your first year, you will build on your previous knowledge and understanding of mathematical methods and concepts. Modules cover a wide range of topics from calculus, probability and statistics to logic, proofs and theorems. As well as developing your technical knowledge and mathematical skills, you will also enhance your data analysis, problem-solving and quantitative reasoning skills. In the second year, you will further develop your knowledge in analysis, algebra, probability and statistics. You will also be introduced to Computational Mathematics, exploring the theory and application of computation and numerical problem-solving methods. While studying these topics, you will complete our Project Skills module, which provides you with the chance to enhance your research and employment skills through an individual and group project. Additionally, you will gain experience of scientific writing, and you will practise using statistical software such as R and LaTeX. Your third year will be spent at one of our partner institutions in North America, Australia and New Zealand where you will experience a new culture and increase your academic network. Following your rigorous study in the first two years, the third year offers a wide range of specialist optional modules, allowing you to develop and drive the programme to suit your interests and guide you to a specific career pathway. Lancaster University will make reasonable endeavours to place students at an approved overseas partner university that offers appropriate modules which contribute credit to your Lancaster degree. Occasionally places overseas may not be available for all students who want to study abroad or the place at the partner university may be withdrawn if core modules are unavailable. If you are not offered a place to study overseas, you will be able to transfer to the equivalent standard degree scheme and would complete your studies at Lancaster. Lancaster University cannot accept responsibility for any financial aspects of the year or term abroad. In the fourth year, you will be able to widen your knowledge and skills by selecting from a pool of optional Master's-level modules. Some of these will be familiar from third year, while others will be new to this year. These advanced modules allow you to exercise what you have learnt during the programme, while expanding and evolving your skill set further. You will also complete a major research project in either pure maths or statistics, guided by your interests and supervised by an active researcher, or undertaken as part of a collaborative industry project. Lancaster University will make reasonable endeavours to place students at an approved overseas partner university that offers appropriate modules which contribute credit to your Lancaster degree. Occasionally places overseas may not be available for all students who want to study abroad or the place at the partner university may be withdrawn if core modules are unavailable. If you are not offered a place to study overseas, you will be able to transfer to the equivalent standard degree scheme and would complete your studies at Lancaster. Lancaster University cannot accept responsibility for any financial aspects of the year or term abroad.