Home | Maths and Applied Maths Honours Programme

Welcome 2024 Honours class!

At MAM we are looking forward to teaching you some cool Maths!

Honours Room

Working space: the Honours room for Mathematics and Applied Mathematics students features chairs and tables for working, sofas, lockers, and access to coffee(!) via the adjacent MAM Tea Room.

Algebraic Combinatorics, Approximation theory, Astrophysics and Space Science, Category Theory, Chaotic Dynamics, Combinatorics, Complexity Theory, Computational Fluid Dynamics, Computational Mathematics, Computer Algebra, Cosmology and General Relativity, Cryptography, Dialgebras, Discrete Mathematics, Functional Analysis, Geometric Analysis, Graph Theory, Group Theory, Homological Algebra, Industrial Mathematics, Leavitt Path Algebras, Linear and Multilinear Algebra, Marine Population Dynamics, Mathematical Ecology, Mathematics Education, Mathematical Physics, Non-Associative Algebra, Nonlinear Dynamics, Numerical Analysis, Operator Algebras, Operator Theory, Partial Differential Equations, Rangeland Systems Modelling, Ring Theory, Sampling theory, Set Theory and Model Theory, Special functions, Stochastic Ordinary Differential Equations, String Theory and Quantum Gravity, Topology, Universal Algebra

The Department of Mathematics and Applied Mathematics at the University of Cape Town (MAM, for short) is world-renowned for the strength of its research and teaching. MAM has more than thirty permanent academic members of staff, is home to a vibrant community of postgrads and postdocs from all over the African continent (and further afield), and teaches undergraduate courses to close to 6,000 students each year.

Honours is an intense, and very exciting, year of study. It is a milestone in the progression from undergraduate coursework to research. You will be a member of a small group of exceptional students meeting in small classes (many of our Honours modules have less than ten students) with lecturers who are experts in their fields. You can expect to be challenged, and inspired. You will come away from the course with a broad and deep appreciation of some of the fundamentals of the subject.

If you intend studying further, your Honours degree will provide a solid foundation for your MSc and PhD, and the opportunity to form relationships with potential supervisors and research groups. Twenty three of our permanent academic staff are NRF-rated (six are A-rated, the highest possible). Established research groups include Topology and Algebra, Category Theory and Algebra, General Relativity and Cosmology, the High Energy Physics, Cosmology & Astrophysics Theory Group, the Centre for Research in Computational and Applied Mechanics, the Laboratory for Discrete Mathematics and Theoretical Computer Science, the Laboratory for Quantum Gravity and Strings, and the Marine Resource Assessment and Management Group.

MAM offers two different Honours degrees:

Honours in (Pure) Mathematics (MAM4000W) is a structured course that exposes you to a core set of standard advanced topics in pure mathematics (the Core Modules), while still allowing you the flexibility to customize your curriculum.
Honours in Applied Mathematics (MAM4001W) is designed to be flexible, giving you the freedom to build an interdisciplinary curriculum that includes courses in other departments.

In addition to those, MAM allows a very small number (max 4 across Maths and Applied Maths) of South African students from underrepresented groups who have completed their undergraduate work at UCT but do not quite meet the admission requirements for our normal Honours Program to complete the program over two years instead of the usual one year. This is known as Extended Honours in Mathematics and Applied Mathematics (MAM4100W & MAM4110W and MAM4101W & MAM4111W, respectively).

Honours students usually receive work space in the Mathematics Building (on the North side of Jammie Plaza) and access to the MAM Tea Room. UCT's computer network and library are excellent, and students can take advantage of UCT's Jammie Shuttle system, which is free for students and staff and links the campus to Cape Town's public transport system. UCT's Upper Campus is famously situated on the slopes of Devil's Peak in Cape Town, a city famous for its natural beauty, culture, and outdoor lifestyle.