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Churchill admits about sixteen undergraduates each year to read Mathematics, Mathematics with Physics or Mathematics with Computer Science. Candidates are normally taking Mathematics and Further Mathematics though the course is accessible to candidates with only single-subject mathematics. In such cases the study of extra further mathematics modules is an advantage to those only able to take a single mathematics course.
The University Mathematics course covers pure and applied mathematics and statistics, including applications of mathematics to physics, to decision-making processes, to financial modelling and to numerical techniques for computation. It is the course for prospective academic mathematicians but it is by no means only for them. Its graduates go into both academic and industrial research, into the computing industry and the financial world, into teaching, into management and administration, and many other careers.
The course is among the most demanding undergraduate mathematics courses in the world. If you want to learn as much as possible of mathematics and all its applications and are prepared to work hard to do so, then Churchill is the place for you. If you enjoy mathematics, we hope you will apply to us. We look forward to teaching you in due course.
Mathematics with Physics
This course provides an alternative way of specialising in theoretical physics to those provided by the Mathematics and Natural Sciences courses on their own. It is a distinct course only in the first year. After that, its students may transfer into the Natural Sciences course to specialise in physics. The first year combines material from both the Mathematics and the Natural Sciences (Physics) courses, about three-quarters being from the Mathematics course. Further mathematics is provided instead of experimental sciences that form a part of the first year Natural Sciences course.
Where is Churchill and where is University Maths?
An aerial photo of the new University Mathematics buildings. The road running from left to right is Madingley Road, and the residential courts in the immediate foreground are those of Churchill College. So you can't get much closer to the department than Churchill if you want to study Mathematics.
Some of the people who teach Mathematics at Churchill
Dr Christopher Tout (Director of Studies, Applied) came to Churchill in 2000 to teach mathematics, all aspects of which have been a life-long interest. Today he specialises in applied mathematics and theoretical physics which he uses every day in his research as the John Couch Adams Astronomer at the University's Institute of Astronomy, situated just beyond the College boundary. The study of the stars incorporates all aspects of modern mathematical physics from compressible fluid dynamics through quantum mechanics, relativity, statistical physics, nuclear physics and even solid state physics. Ultimately the problems boil down to the solutions to non-linear partial differential equations from which spring our understanding of the evolution of stars from their birth in cosmic clouds, through their youth like the Sun, as middle aged giants and to old age as white dwarfs, neutron stars or black holes. Dr Tout has lived on three continents and experienced mathematics taught in a number of universities throughout the world. Nowhere has he found a course as comprehensive as this one. It may be more challenging but if you enjoy mathematics in any form it is well worth it.
Other Mathematician Fellows at Churchill College
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Professor Alec Boksenberg
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Professor Douglas Gough
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Professor James Norris
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Professor Geoffrey Grimmett
Churchill Mathematicians can be sociable too
Preparing for Entertainment after a Mathematicians' Dinner