MPhil/PhD in Mathematics

Programme Code: RPMA

Department: Mathematics

For students starting this programme of study in 2024/25

Guidelines for interpreting programme regulations

In addition to progressing with their research, students are expected to take the listed training and transferable skills courses. Students may take courses in addition to those listed, and should discuss this with their supervisor.

Year 1
Paper	Course number, title (unit value)
Training courses	Compulsory (not examined): Courses designed for research students in Mathematics, chosen in consultation with their lead supervisor. All first-year research students are required to attend a minimum of four taught courses. For those students working in financial mathematics this will usually comprise a number of units organised by the London Graduate School in Mathematical Finance (LGSMF; www.londonmathfinance.org.uk). Students working in other areas of mathematics will usually be required to take courses from the selection offered by the London Taught Course Centre (LTTC; www.ltcc.ac.uk). Lead supervisors will advise on taught course selection and students will need to obtain approval for their course choice from their lead supervisor. A student may, with the agreement of their lead supervisor and the Doctoral Programme Director, substitute one or more LSE Master’s Course for courses offered by either the LGSMF or the LTCC. Courses offered by the LGSMF, the LTCC or LSE Master’s Courses with more than 20 teaching hours are normally counted as two courses of the four courses required.
	Students also have the option of attending or auditing LSE Taught Masters modules, where appropriate.
Transferable skills courses	Compulsory (not examined):
	MA500 Mathematics: Seminar on Combinatorics, Games and Optimisation (0.0)
	MA501 Research Student Seminar (0.0)
	Optional (not examined):
	MA422 Research Topics in Financial Mathematics (0.0)
Year 2
Training courses	Optional (not examined):
	Students have the option of attending advanced courses organized by the London Taught Course Centre or the London Graduate School in Mathematical Finance.
Transferable skills courses	Compulsory (not examined):
	MA500 Mathematics: Seminar on Combinatorics, Games and Optimisation (0.0)
	MA501 Research Student Seminar (0.0)
	Optional (not examined):
	MA422 Research Topics in Financial Mathematics (0.0)
Year 3
Training courses	Optional (not examined):
	Students have the option of attending advanced courses organized by the London Taught Course Centre or the London Graduate School in Mathematical Finance.
Transferable skills courses	Compulsory (not examined):
	MA500 Mathematics: Seminar on Combinatorics, Games and Optimisation (0.0)
	MA501 Research Student Seminar (0.0)
	Optional (not examined):
	MA422 Research Topics in Financial Mathematics (0.0)
Year 4
Training courses	Optional (not examined):
	Students have the option of attending advanced courses organized by the London Taught Course Centre or the London Graduate School in Mathematical Finance.
Transferable skills courses	Compulsory (not examined):
	MA500 Mathematics: Seminar on Combinatorics, Games and Optimisation (0.0)
	MA501 Research Student Seminar (0.0)
	Optional (not examined):
	MA422 Research Topics in Financial Mathematics (0.0)
	Teaching opportunities:
	All students are offered the opportunity to teach for the department, subject to a successful interview and language requirements.

Progression and upgrade requirements

Students are initially registered for the MPhil, and will be able to upgrade to PhD registration during their second year, dependent on satisfactory progress. Progress is assessed regularly by the student's supervisors, in consultation with the Doctoral Programme Director, on the basis of the extent to which the agreed research goals have been achieved. Any upgrade is dependent on the successful completion of a Major Review, the date of which is determined by the Doctoral Programme Director in consultation with the lead supervisor.

Local rules for the format of a PhD thesis

A thesis can be submitted in one of two formats:

a monograph that forms an integrated whole; or
a series of papers with linking material that outlines and discusses the key contributions of the papers and places them in the wider literature. The thesis must contain substantial material which is solely the work of the candidate. A jointly authored paper can only be included in the thesis if the candidate contributed substantially to it. All papers need to be included in the same format as the rest of the thesis. An exception from the requirement of having at least three papers in a paper-based thesis will be made for a thesis whose overall scope and contribution is in line with regulations 50 and 51 of the Regulations for Research Degrees.

The student needs the approval of their lead supervisor for the format of the thesis.

Note for prospective students:
For changes to graduate course and programme information for the next academic session, please see the graduate summary page for prospective students. Changes to course and programme information for future academic sessions can be found on the graduate summary page for future students.

MPhil/PhD in Mathematics

Paper

Course number, title (unit value)