GTA/GRA AND TRAVEL SUPPORT ISSUES
1. Is the graduate teaching/research assistantship renewable from the second year?
Based on students’ academic and teaching/research assignment performance, their graduate teaching/research assistantship will be renewable from second years, up to 6 years in the PhD program and 2 years in the Master program.
2. Will the stipend of graduate teaching/research assistantship be adjusted?
The stipend of GTA/GRA could be adjusted every year, depending on students’ academic and teaching/research assignment performance and available departmental budget. Students passing the qualifying exams will have $500 stipend increase and students passing candidacy exams will have $1000 stipend increase. Students received the following awards, 1) Research Excellence Award; 2) Graduate Student Teaching Excellence Award; and 3) Lee Armstrong Graduate Teaching Assistant Award, will have $250 stipend increase.
3. Is there the graduate teaching/research assistantship available in the summer?
Students in the PhD and master program can apply for the graduate teaching/research assistantship in the summer. The application form will be sent to all GTA/GRA students in about March. The program offers about 20 or more graduate teaching/research assistantship in the summer, with priorities given to those taking dissertation hours and passing qualifying exams. The stipend for graduate teaching/research assistantship is $4500 or up.
4. Is there any financial support to attend a meeting/workshop?
The College of Graduate Studies has the Presentation Fellowship to support students who plan to present a research paper or comparable creative activity at a professional conference. More information about the fellowship can be found in the website: https://funding.graduate.ucf.edu/presentation/
Students in the graduate program are greatly encouraged to attend meetings, workshops and summer schools. The department allocates some fund every year and provides partial financial support, around $250 per trip, for students to attend various academic activities.
AWARD ISSUES
1. What is a Research Excellence Award?
The Research Excellent Award is to honor graduate students of Department of Mathematics to conduct research of high quality. It is formerly known as the Graduate Research Award.
- Seoyun Choe received the 2022 Graduate Research Excellence Award for her work on mathematical modeling for infectious diseases. Seok-Young Chung received the 2022 Graduate Research Excellence Award for his work on Bessel functions and hypergeometric functions.
- Yaxuan Wang received the 2021 Graduate Research Excellence Award for her work on clustering of diverse multiplex networks.
- Feng Yu received the 2020 Graduate Research Excellence Award for his work on robust tensor completion.
- Ramchandra Rimal received the 2019 Graduate Research Excellence Award for his work on density deconvolution and stochastic network.
- Mangalama Dewasurendra received the 2018 Research Excellence Award for his work on solving systems of highly nonlinear differential equations arising in Science and Engineering.
- Rajitha Puwakgolle received the 2017 Research Excellence Award for his study on approximation theory, orthogonal polynomials and special functions.
- Yi Zhu received the 2016 Research Excellent Award for her study on propagating traveling waves in reaction-diffusion systems.
- Cheng Cheng received the 2015 Research Excellent Award for her contribution on sparse wavelet signal reconstruction and robust spatially distributed networks.
- Ashish Bhatt received the 2015 Research Excellent Award for his discovery of a new conformal property of a Burger’s equation.
- Deborah Kelly received the 1995 Graduate Research Award for the improved results on analysis of heat and mass transfer of a videoelastic, electrically conducting fluid past a continuous stretching sheet.
2. What is an Outstanding Dissertation Award?
The Award for the Outstanding Dissertation, created in Fall 2016, recognizes doctoral students for excellence in the dissertation.
- Feng Yu received the 2021 department Outstanding dissertation award. The title of his dissertation is Regularized Estimations in Some Statistical Problems. Dr. Feng Yu was under the supervision of Professor Teng Zhang. He accepted a postdoc position at Department of Mathematics, SUNY Albany.
- Wei Yan received the 2020 departmental Outstanding dissertation award. The title of her dissertation is Mean Field Optimal Control and Related Problems. Dr. Wei Yan was under the supervision of Professor Jiongmin Yong. She accepted a Postdoctoral Assistant Professor at Department of Mathematics, University of Michigan after graduation.
- Elliot Blackstone received the 2019 departmental Outstanding dissertation award. The title of his dissertation is Spectral Properties of the Finite Hilbert Transform on Two Adjacent Intervals Via the Method of Riemann-Hilbert Problem. Dr. Elliot Blackstone was under the supervision of Professors Alexander Tovbis and Alexander Katsevich. He accepted a postdoc offer at Department of Mathematics, Royal Institute of Technology, Sweden, after graduation.
- Rajitha Ranasinghe received the 2018 Outstanding Dissertation Award. He is under the supervision of Professor Xin Li. The title of her dissertation is In Quest of Bernstein Inequalities Rational Functions, Askey-Wilson Operator, and Summation Identities for Entire Functions. He accepted the Senior Lecturer offer at Department of Mathematics, University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka.
- Cheng Cheng received the 2017 Outstanding Dissertation Award. She is under the supervision of Professors Xin Li and Qiyu Sun. The title of her dissertation is Sampling and Reconstruction of Spatial Signals. She accepted a postdoc offer at SAMSI and Department of Mathematics, Duke University after graduation.
- Arita Dutta received the 2016 Outstanding Dissertation Award. He is under the supervision of Professors Xin Li and Qiyu Sun. The title of his dissertation is Weighted low-rank approximation of matrices: some analytic and numerical aspects. He accepted a postdoc offer at the Visual Computing Center at KAUST, Saudi Arabia, after graduation
3. What is a Master’s Thesis Award?
The Master’s Thesis Award is given to a student to have the best Master’s thesis and graduate in previous calendar year. This award is discontinued at 2021.
The recipients of the Master’s Thesis Award are:
- Daniel Marulanda (2017)
- Christopher Huff (2013)
4. What is the Ed Norman Award for Excellence in Mathematics?
The award was established in 1994 by Eliane Norman in memory of Ed Norman, a former UCF mathematics professor. It is awarded every year to that graduate student who graduates in the past calendar year with the highest graduate GPA.
The recipients of this award are:
- David Guinovart and Panpan Chen (2018)
- Matthew Russo (2017)
- Robert Anschuetz (1995)
5. What is the Lee Armstrong Graduate Teaching Assistant Award?
The award is created by Professor Lee Armstrong, an emeritus professor of the Math department, to honor graduate student with distinguished teaching. It was formerly known as the graduate teaching award, and Lee Armstrong Award for Distinguished Teaching. From 2020, this award is combined with Graduate Teaching Assistant Award, and is renamed as Lee Armstrong Graduate Teaching Assistant Award.
The recipients of the Lee Armstrong Graduate Teaching Assistant Award are:
- Sweety Sarker (2022) for her dedicated service in Mathematics Assistant Learning Lab and the creation of comfort environment for students to discuss, engage and learn.
- Teresa Bosch (2021)
- Yuechen Cao (2020)
The recipients of the Lee Armstrong Award for Distinguished Teaching are:
- Christian Bosse (2018)
- Aritra Dutta (2018)
- Tyler Gomez (2017)
- Martin Rolek (2016)
- Arielle Gaudielle (2015)
- Rachid Semmoum (2004)
- Alex Zamyatin(2003)
- Heather Edwards (2002)
- John Boneck (2001)
- Lisa Fischer (2000)
- Lori Dunlop (1999)
- Julie Meer (1998)
- Kevin Brown (1997)
- Michael Reynolds (1996)
- Deborah Kelly (1995)
- Patrick Higgins (1994)
- Frederick Hackett (1993)
6. What is a Graduate Teaching Excellence Award?
The Graduate Student Teaching Excellence Award, created in Fall 2015, recognizes excellence in teaching by graduate teaching associates/assistants who serve as instructors of record and have independent classroom responsibilities.
The recipients of Graduate Student Teaching Excellence Award are:
- Wisdom Ogala (2022) for his great passion to teach and deep involvement with students’ learning.
- Fan Xing (2021)
- Oluwaseun Farotimi (2021)
- Panpan Chen (2020)
- Poroshat Yazdanbakhshghahyazi (2020)
- Ranses Alfonso Sanjuan (2019)
- Wei Yan (2019)
- Frederick Reid (2018)
- Majid Noroozi (2018)
- Christian Bosse (2017)
- Ashish Bhatt (2016)
- Arielle Gaudielle
- Martin Rolek
- Cheng Cheng (2015)
7. What is a Graduate Teaching Assistant Award?
The Graduate Teaching Assistant Award, created in 2016, recognizes excellence by graduate teaching assistants who are not instructors of record, but who provide teaching support and assistance. This award is combined with Lee Armstrong Award for Distinguished Teaching and renamed as Lee Armstrong Graduate Teaching Assistant Award from 2020.
The recipients of Graduate Teaching Assistant Award are:
- Nazar Emirov(2019)
- Pawan Gupta and Ramchandra Rimal (2018)
- Jingmei Zhang(2017)
- Rajitha Puwakgolle (2016)
8. What is a MALL Award for Excellence in Tutoring by a Graduate Student?
The UCF Mathematics Assistance and Learning Lab (MALL) is a state-of-the-art lab and the designated classroom for Intermediate Algebra and College Algebra students. The facility also serves as an extension of the classroom environment for Pre-Calculus and College Trigonometry students. The MALL aids students by providing hands-on learning, one-on-one assistance, and promotes the study and enjoyment of mathematics.
Recipients of the award are:
- Vanessa Lowry(2018)
- Daniel Gibney (2017)
- Calvin Wheeler (2016)
- Nathaniel Adu (2015)
- Talon Ward (2014)
9. What is the Yvette Kanouff Industrial Mathematics Scholarship?
The scholarship was established in 2013 and it was generously supported by alumni Yvette Kanouff (Master 1993) for graduate students in the department of Mathematics with an interest in working on industry problems.
- Xing Fan (2021)
- Chang Li and Poroshat Yazdanbakhshghahyazi (2020)
- David Guinovart Sanjuan (2019)
- Yan Wei (2018)
- Tanushree Roy (2017)
- Thanapot Phoolsuk (2016)
TRACKS ISSUES
1. What is the main difference in the PhD program between the Financial Mathematics track and the regular Mathematical Sciences track?
There are several required courses designed for Financial Mathematics track, such as Computational Mathematics for Financial Mathematics I and II, Financial Mathematics I and II; Risk Management for Financial Mathematics, and Applied Time Series Analysis.
For the candidacy examination, at least one sequence selected by students in the Financial Mathematics Track must be based on two required courses on financial mathematics.
Students in the Financial Mathematics Track must complete their dissertation on financial mathematics.
2. What is the main difference in the master program among the regular Mathematical Sciences track, the Industrial Mathematics track and the Financial Mathematics track?
The Industrial Mathematics track in the master program is meant to be a terminal degree for a student who wants a career in industry. The courses in those two tracks may not be aligned to the regular master program and the Ph.D. program.
The Financial Mathematics track in the master program is meant to be a terminal degree for a student who wants a career in financial institutes. The courses in the tracks may not be aligned to our Ph.D. program at Financial Mathematics track.
Visit the university catalog for more information on the requirements for different tracks.
3. Can I select a new track and even a new program after admission?
The objectives of the UCF math PhD and Master programs are different. Students who change their mind after admission to the Math graduate program can select a new track and even a new graduate program in the department, up to the approval. Due to different requirements on core and restricted selective courses, some credit hours earned by students may not be transferred to the new program. The university policy allows automatic transfer of up to 9 credit hours of graduate level courses between programs and anything beyond 9 credit hours will have to be petitioned through the College of Graduate Studies.
4. Can I change from the certificate program to the master/PhD program?
Yes, you may apply to transfer to the Master or PhD program if you are qualified. Since all the online courses are part of our regular graduate courses, you may take the credit hours with you when you are admitted to the master/PhD program. The university policy allows automatic transfer of up to 9 credit hours of graduate level courses between programs and anything beyond 9 credit hours will have to be petitioned through the College of Graduate Studies. It is strongly recommended that you transfer soon after you have 9 credit hours and before you have too many credit hours.
COURSE SELECTION ISSUES
1. Will all required courses be available as online courses?
At least six courses will be made available as online courses. More online courses will be added.
Each spring and fall semester, at least one online courses will be offered. In the summer, online course(s) will be offered as long as our budget permits us to do so.
2. When do I take core and required selective courses?
The core and required selective courses for the PhD and master program are different. Students in the PhD and master program admitted in the fall semester are recommended to take three core courses: MAA5228 (Analysis I), MAS5145 (Advanced Linear Algebra and Matrix Theory) and MAT5712 (Scientific Computing).
3. How do I choose the elective course?
You may choose any graduate level course in the department of mathematics as your elective course. You should always consult with the graduate coordinator with your selection of the elective course. You may choose an online course or a face-to-face course.
4. Will my elective course be available as an online course?
We will make more and more courses available as online courses but we cannot promise the one you select as your elective course is available as an online course.
QUALIFIER AND CANDIDACY ISSUES
1. What is a qualifier exam?
Qualifier exams include two subjects, Analysis and Linear Algebra. The qualifier exam on Analysis is based on MAA5228 (Analysis I), and the qualifier exam on Linear Algebra is based on MAS 5145 (Advanced Linear Algebra and Matrix Theory).
Students in the graduate program can take the qualifier examination. Students have at most two attempts for each subject with one free trial just after admission to the program.
Students are encouraged to take the examination of each subject just after completing the corresponding core courses, and they are expected to have passed the examination by the end of the second year.
Grade scales for the qualifier exam are PhD pass, Master pass and Fail. Students to continue in the PhD program must pass the examinations at the PhD Pass level. Students with non-thesis option in the Master program must earn the Master Pass or the PhD pass in the examinations.
The qualifier exam will be administered twice a year, one in the fall semester and the other in the spring semester. The examination on two subjects will be on the second and third weekend of the fall and spring semester, or on the date determined by the graduate program director.
Students to take the examination in the spring/fall semester should submit your request to the Graduate Program Assistant of the department during the first two weeks of November/May.
Withdrawing the request is permitted. Students should send the withdrawal petition at least two weeks before the examination date. No showing will be counted as one attempt with grade Fail.
2. What is a candidacy exam?
Candidacy examination consists of a written examination based on the materials from two of the selected two-semester sequence courses beyond the core courses. Students may use restricted electives listed in the Math PhD program @ graduate catalog as their sequence courses.
Students in the PhD program can take the candidacy examination after passing the qualifying examination with a PhD pass. The candidacy examination must be completed within two years after the qualifying examination and within three years admitted in the PhD program. A student must successfully pass the Candidacy Examination within at most two attempts for each sequence.
The examination will be administered three times a year, in the fall, spring and summer semesters. The examination will be on the second and third weekend of the fall, spring and summer semester, or on the date determined by the graduate program director.
Students to take the examination in the fall/spring/summer semester should submit your request to the Graduate Program Assistant of the department during the first two weeks of May/November/March.
Withdrawing the request is permitted. Students should send the withdrawal petition at least two weeks before the examination date. No showing will be counted as one attempt with grade Fail.
MISCELLANEOUS ISSUES
1. Is there a time limit on the completion of the graduate program?
There is no official time limit. However, it is highly recommended that students should complete the PhD program with 6 years, the master and graduate certificate program within three years.
However, the university has 7 year rule for all master and doctoral programs, which requires graduate students have seven years from the date of admission to complete their degree (prerequisite, articulation, and foundation courses are exempt). In addition, no course older than seven years at the time of graduation may be used in the Plan of Study.
2. What is the credit transfer policy?
The program follows the university policy to credit transfer. For a full description of the rules that govern transfer credits, please see the appropriate Transfer of Credit policy in the current Graduate Catalog. The university will not allow students to transfer course work from professional societies, independent agencies, employers or companies unless they are American Council on Education (ACE) certified.
3. Annual Evaluation of the graduate program?