Berlin Mathematical School

Berlin Mathematical School
Established 2006
Provost Jürg Kramer
Students ca. 230
Location Berlin, Germany
Affiliations Freie Universität Berlin
Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin
Technische Universität Berlin
Website www.math-berlin.de/

The Berlin Mathematical School (BMS) is a joint graduate school of the three renowned math departments of the public research universities in Berlin: Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, and Technische Universität Berlin. In October 2006, the BMS was awarded one of the 18 prestigious graduate school awards by the Excellence Initiative of the German Federal Government for its innovative concept, its strong cross-disciplinary focus, and its outstanding teaching schedule tailored to the needs of students in an international environment. This was reconfirmed in June 2012 when the German Research Foundation announced that the BMS would also receive funding for a second period until 2017.[1][2] The BMS Chair is Jürg Kramer (HU), and the deputy Chairs are Konrad Polthier (FU) and John M. Sullivan (TU).

Vision and mission

Besides striving for academic excellence, the BMS is actively pursuing the goals of internationality, gender equality, diversity, and ensuring a working environment that is accepting, liberal, and supportive for its students, faculty, and employees. The BMS is dedicated to making top-notch mathematical education available irrespective of race, class and gender. One of the main goals is to reach an equal distribution of male and female students at the BMS.[3]

Cooperations

BMS students enjoy access to exclusive seminars, workshops and lectures in English not only at the participating universities but also at their academic partners: Berlin’s mathematical Research and Training Groups, the Max Planck Research schools, the DFG Research Center MATHEON (Mathematics for Key Technologies), the Einstein Center for Mathematics Berlin (ECMath), the Collaborative Research Centers “Space – Time – Matter”, and "Transregio", the Zuse Institute Berlin (ZIB), and the Weierstrass Institute for Applied Analysis and Stochastics (WIAS).[4]

PhD in Mathematics at the BMS

The PhD program at the BMS leads from a bachelor’s degree through an oral qualifying exam directly to a doctoral degree in four to five years.

Applicants who hold a bachelor’s degree, Vordiplom, or equivalent can enter the BMS Phase I, in which they will complete five basic courses at a graduate level and two advanced courses at PhD level as well as the BMS Qualifying Exam within 3 to 4 semesters. For students who are further advanced in their studies, part of the Phase I course requirements may be waived. At the beginning of the first year, each Phase I student is assigned a mentor. After completing the Qualifying Exam, each student will continue with his or her PhD project under the supervision of one member of the BMS faculty.[5] To enter straight into Phase II to immediately start the PhD project, students are expected to have a master’s degree or equivalent, or must pass the BMS Qualifying Exam and meet the regular admission requirements of the Berlin universities' PhD programs. Phase II applicants are expected to name a supervisor in their application. While in Phase II, every student will benefit from having not only an advisor but also a mentor.[6][7]

BMS Fridays

The BMS Friday is a colloquium which takes place fortnightly at the BMS Loft in the Urania in Berlin during the lecture period. The BMS welcomes and invites scholars in mathematics.
BMS Fridays also include "What is...?"-seminars organised by students and offers “tea and cookies“ before each talk. [8]


References


External links

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