Certificate of Advanced Study in Mathematics

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Results for parts II and III of the Mathematical Tripos are read out inside Senate House, University of Cambridge and then tossed from the balcony.

For the travel industry measure, see CASM (travel)

CASM stands for "Certificate of Advanced Studies in Mathematics". It is both the culmination of the Cambridge University mathematics degree, as an additional year for those who wish to go on beyond the BA course, and a separate graduate course which accepts many people coming from other universities. It is a highly selective program, both domestically and internationally, with about half of the accepted students from abroad. At the very least, it is roughly equivalent to a one-year taught Master's degree (MSc.) in Mathematics, but is better described as an "outstanding and extremely difficult one year preparation for research-grade mathematics". The course is also referred to as Part III, since it is part III of the Mathematical Tripos. (Parts Ia, Ib, and II occupy the first three years of the undergraduate degree.) This course was previously known as Schedule B in the early twentieth century.

The course lasts one year, divided into three eight-week terms. There are a wide variety of lectures on both pure and applied maths, mostly concentrated in the first two terms. The third term is primarily for examinations (and revision for said examinations) which, together with the option of writing a part III essay (a miniature thesis of sorts, often in the form of a literature review), determine one's final grade entirely.

The grades available are Fail, Pass, Merit, and Distinction (the Merit grade was introduced in 2000). The level of achievement required for a distinction is somewhat higher than that required for a First in the British undergraduate degree classification. In addition to the grades awarded two additional prizes may be awarded at the discretion of the examiners, the Mayhew Prize for Applied Mathematics and the Tyson Medal for mathematics and astronomy. Several notable astronomers and astrophysicists have been awarded the Tyson medal in the history of Part III maths, including Jayant Narlikar, Ray Lyttleton and Edmund Whittaker.