Academics / Graduate Study / Master's DegreeCurriculum & Requirements
The following requirements are in addition to, or further elaborate upon, those requirements outlined on The Graduate School website. These requirements can generally lead to a master’s degree after three quarters of study. Additional information is available in the ESAM department's MS student handbook.
Coursework Requirements
To see a list of coursework requirements for the master of science in engineering sciences and applied mathematics, please see the department’s MS student handbook.
Other MS Degree Requirements
Satisfactory progress in the program is determined by department review of course grades and faculty recommendations. The Graduate School requires all students to maintain at least a B average.
Master’s Curriculum
The MS curriculum includes courses that provides a foundation for applied mathematics. Students typically take four classes per quarter to complete the 12-course requirement in three quarters. The following list of courses is not inclusive because new courses based on emerging fields are continually being developed. Special topic courses are offered every year. For more detailed information about the applied math courses taught at Northwestern, view ESAM's course catalog.
Graduate Core Courses
- 411-1 Differential Equations of Mathematical Physics or
311-0 Methods of Applied Mathematics - 420-1 Asymptotic and Perturbations Methods in Applied Mathematics
- 446-1 Numerical Solution of Partial Differential Equations
Elective Numerical Methods Courses
- 445 Iterative Methods for Elliptic Equations
- 444 High Performance Scientific Computing
- 448 Numerical Methods for Random Processes
- 449 Numerical Methods for Moving Interfaces
Elective Asymptotic Methods Courses
- 420-2,3 Asymptotic and Perturbation Methods in Applied Mathematics
- 412-0 Methods of Nonlinear Analysis
Elective Modeling Courses
- 421-1 Models in Applied Mathematics
- 426 Theory of Flows with Small Inertia
- 429-1 Hydrodynamic Stability Theory
- 430-1 Wave Propagation
- 472 Introduction to the Analysis of RNA Sequencing Data
- 479 Data Driven Methods for Dynamical Systems
Elective Analysis Methods Courses
- 411-2,3 Differential Equations of Mathematical Physics
- 438-1 Interdisciplinary Nonlinear Dynamics
- 440 Integral Equations and Applications
- 442-1 Stochastic Differential Equations
In addition to these courses, special topic courses, listed as 495, are offered every year. Also, a wide variety of courses in other science and engineering departments may be used for electives.