Faculty of Mathematics and Computer ScienceResearch and Teaching
The Faculty's core purpose of excellent research and high level teaching are mutually dependent as students gain from teachers engaged in cutting edge research and future research requires highly skilled young scientists. Hence, both realms are naturally tightly connected.
The training of students at the faculty is strongly research-oriented. The research activities are characterized by a high level of third-party funding. Major grants include, in pure mathematics, the research units Topology and Non-commutative Geometry (1992-1998), Arithmetic (1998-2005), Symmetry, Geometry and Arithmetic (2013-2019), and, more recently, the research training group Asymptotic Invariants and Limits of Groups and Spaces (since 2014) and the collaborative research centers Symplectic Structures in Geometry, Algebra, and Dynamics (since 2018 in Heidelberg) and Geometry and Arithmetic of Uniformized Structures (since 2021); in applied mathematics, the collaborative research centers Stochastic Mathematical Models (1977-1992) and Reactive Flows, Diffusion and Transport (1993-2004) and the research training groups Modeling and Scientific Computing in Mathematics and Natural Sciences (1992-2001), Complex Processes: Modeling, Simulation and Optimization (2002-2009), and Statistical Modeling of Complex Systems (2014-2020).
Curriculum
For a number of years now, the training of students in mathematics and computer science has been divided in undergraduate Bachelor programs, subject specific Master programs as well as a number of programs offered jointly with other units of Heidelberg University.
The Bachelor degrees come in 100% and 50% versions, and the latter with a teaching option as a first step in the training of secondary school teachers. This is typically followed by a Master of Education in mathematics or computer science. The training of teachers and contact with schools is essential to the faculty for many reasons.
The Bachelor degrees are viewed as a first professional qualification, that is completed during the Master phase, and our graduates have excellent prospects for landing a job in the private sector.
The Master degrees are also stepping stones to a career in academia that begins with the doctorate, and the faculty is proud of its support of young researchers. For many years, a remarkably high fraction of Independent Research Group Leaders and Private Lecturers trained at the faculty have secured offers for permanent faculty positions at other universities. Heidelberg Mathematics has a notable influence on the genealogy of young academics in Germany.