Mathematics (Bachelor)

Mathematics plus minor and professionalisation

The Bachelor’s degree programme in Mathematics is composed of three areas:

• mathematics

• minor subject

• area of professionalisation including internships

In the mathematics major, you first complete a core area of courses related to pure and applied mathematics. This is followed by a specialisation area in which you select specific courses according to your interests.

We place great emphasis on practical application of your knowledge gained in the Bachelor's degree programme in Mathematics. By choosing your minor subject, you can train for a future field of work. You will learn about the leading questions of the subject and become familiar with its content and terminology. There are various subjects to choose from, for example:

• informatics

• physics

• economics

• electrical engineering

• mechanical engineering

A professionalisation area offers courses with hands-on learning opportunities. In these courses, you can acquire interdisciplinary and practical professional skills. For example, you can train in the confident use of electronic media or expand your foreign language skills. In addition, there are internships in which you can gain practical experience.

Those who have gained experience abroad and speak a foreign language are particularly sought after by the economy. Today, large companies operate globally, research projects are carried out in international teams and specialised literature is written in English. It is therefore important that you take advantage of your studies to gain experience abroad and to professionalise your foreign language skills.

Within the framework of our international university partnerships, we offer you many opportunities to study abroad:

• Europe: with universities in, for example, Scandinavia, Southern and Eastern Europe

• North America: with universities in the USA and Canada

• South America: with universities in Argentina, Brazil, Chile and Mexico

• Asia: with universities in India, China, Japan and South Korea

Studying abroad [in German only]

What skills do I need?

A love of mathematics and the ability to reason logically are essential for the degree programme. If you are fresh out of school, you will get to know a new kind of mathematics at university. Now it’s less about skills such as applying a formula and carrying out calculations; rather, the focus is on the proof. Consistently, it’s “What hasn’t been proven doesn’t count!”. Instead of calculating something, you model and analyse, draw consequences and find a solution. Proving the existence or non-existence of a solution is just as important as actually calculating it.

You will learn to work with high precision, but equally to appreciate the beauty and elegance of mathematical thinking. Mathematics, one of the oldest sciences, can be pursued completely independently, bound by logic alone.

In addition to the typical mathematical way of thinking, you will train to master the procedures and methods that mathematics provides for problem solving.

Special attention is given to the competent use of computers, which is often required in the profession; so you should enjoy using them. In computer practicals you learn how and when to use EDP to solve mathematical problems. Programming courses round off the degree programme.

Knowledge of English is necessary, e.g. for reading specialised literature. If you would like to improve your English, you can take advantage of courses offered by the TU Language Centre alongside your studies.

As a mathematician, you will work in a wide variety of industries. Typical fields of activities are, for example:

• insurance companies

• finance

• IT companies

• and institutions of higher education

However, due to the ever-increasing importance of interdisciplinary thinking in a corporate context, many other fields of work will also open up for you:

• in telecommunications

• in vehicle construction

• in the electrical industry

• in business consultancies

• or in the chemical industry