The Advanced Mathematics degree is aimed at high achieving students who wish to specialise in mathematics as a basis for the increasing range of quantitative careers in areas such as finance, environmental modelling and research. This four-year degree combines advanced coursework with an Honours-level research project in one of the available plans of study. UNSW offers mathematics students advanced facilities combined with innovative teaching. This program has been designed to cater for the specific abilities and interests of talented students with a superior ATAR.

Upon completion of Advanced Mathematics (Honours) in the Faculty of Science at UNSW graduates will:

Single Degree Mode

When completing the Bachelor of Science (Advanced Mathematics) (Honours) as a single degree, students must complete a minimum of 192 units of credit (UoC). This 192 UoC is comprised of:

 

Note: The Quantitative Risk major is a large multi-disciplinary major which is comprised of 114 units of credit. Students who complete this major will therefore only have 12 UoC of Free Electives available.

Dual Degree Mode

When completing the Bachelor of Science (Advanced Mathematics) (Honours) as part of a dual degree, students must complete a minimum of 144 UoC. This 144 UoC is comprised of the following:

 

*See notes below

Single Degree Program Rules

Academic rules relating to the Bachelor of Science (Advanced Mathematics) (Honours) are as follows:

1. Students in the single degree program must complete a minimum of 192 units of credit.

2. Students must complete exactly one approved Bachelor of Science (Advanced Mathematics) (Honours) major, and this must be declared before enrolling in Level III courses. Students cannot undertake a double major in this program. Information about how to declare a major can be found on the Science Student Centre website.

3. Approved majors in the Bachelor of Science (Advanced Mathematics) (Honours) program are:

*Enrolment in the Quantitative Risk major requires permission from the Head of School of Mathematics and Statistics or nominee.

4. SCIF1121 Advanced Science: Professional Perspective and Practice (6 UoC) or SCIF1131 Science: Technological and Professional Perspectives (6 UoC) must be completed in first year.

5. An Honours Year of 48 UoC must be completed. For information regarding the admission requirements and application process for Honours, please see the information below under 'Honours'.

6. In addition to the courses required for a student's chosen major, SCIF1121/1131, and Honours, students must take 'Science' courses so that the major plus SCIF1121/1131, plus Honours year plus 'Science' courses total 144 UoC. ‘Science’ courses are listed in Table 1 below.

'Science' courses are courses offered by the following Schools. The course prefixes that are associated with each School are in bold below:

Table 1: Definition of 'Science' courses

 

7. Students must complete at least 24 UoC of Level I ‘Science' courses. ‘Science’ courses are listed in Table 1 below.

8. Students must complete at least 30 UoC of Level III ‘Science' courses. ‘Science’ courses are listed in Table 1 below.

9. Students must complete 12 UoC of General Education at any stage in their program. Students must follow the UNSW rules for General Education. Any course defined as a 'Science' course in Table 1 cannot be taken as General Education. Additionally, GENS courses cannot count as General Education for Science students. Furthermore, students doing the Quantitative Risk major cannot take any general education courses offered by the Australian School of Business. Any exceptions to these rules must be approved by the Associate Dean (Academic Programs) or nominee.

10. A maximum of 72 units of credit of Level I courses can be taken, including any GEN#### course or mainstream Level I course taken to fulfil the 12 UoC General Education requirement.

11. Students may not enrol into Level II courses until at least 30 UoC of Level I courses have been successfully completed.

12. Students may not enrol into Level III courses until at least 72 UoC of courses have been successfully completed.

13. Progression to stages 2, 3, and 4 of this program is subject to academic performance. Students will be required to attain a Weighted Average Mark (WAM) of 70 in each semester. If a student does not maintain this minimum level of academic performance, they will be transferred to the Bachelor of Science.

When a student undertakes a Bachelor of Science (Advanced Mathematics) (Honours) degree as part of a dual degree, the program rules are as follows:

1. Students must complete a minimum of 144 units of credit.

2. Students must complete exactly one approved Bachelor of Science (Advanced Mathematics) (Honours) major, and this must be declared before enrolling in Level III courses (see above for a list of approved majors). Information about how to declare a major can be found on the Science Student Centre website.

3. SCIF1121 Advanced Science: Professional Perspective and Practice (6 UoC) or SCIF1131 Science: Technological and Professional Perspectives (6 UoC) must be completed in first year.

Students taking program 3761 Bachelor of Science (Advanced Mathematics) (Honours)/Bachelor of Engineering (Honours) must take ENGG1000 Introduction to Engineering Design and Innovation instead of SCIF1121 or SCIF1131.

4. An Honours Year of 48 UoC must be completed. For information regarding the admission requirements and application process for Honours, please see the information under 'Honours’ below.

5. In addition to the courses required for a student's chosen major, SCIF1121/1131, and Honours, students must take 'Science' courses so that the major plus SCIF1121/1131, plus Honours year plus 'Science' courses total 144 UoC.

Students in the Bachelor of Science (Advanced Mathematics)/Bachelor of Science (Computer Science) dual degree may not count ‘COMP’ courses towards their Advanced Mathematics requirements unless they are specified as core courses in their major (i.e. for these students ‘COMP’ courses will not count as ‘Science’ courses).

6. Students must complete at least 24 UoC of Level I ‘Science’ courses. ‘Science’ courses are listed in Table 1 below.

7. Students must complete at least 30 UoC of Level III ‘Science' courses. ‘Science’ courses are listed in Table 1 below.

8. Students may not enrol into Level II courses until at least 30 UoC of Level I courses have been successfully completed.

9. Students may not enrol into Level III courses until at least 72 UoC of courses have been successfully completed.

10. Progression to stages 2, 3, and 4 of this program is subject to academic performance. Students will be required to attain a Weighted Average Mark (WAM) of 70 in each semester. If a student does not maintain this minimum level of academic performance, they will be transferred to the Bachelor of Science.

Quantitative Risk Major for Dual Degrees

Students wishing to complete a major in Quantitative Risk should note that this is a large multi-disciplinary major and when taken in a dual degree where there is little or no overlap of courses with the other degree may involve extra time and cost to complete, and may have visa implications for international students. Students taking Quantitative Risk in combination with a Bachelor of Commerce (for example) will be able to complete the two degree requirements in the minimum time as there is significant overlap between the two programs. However, students taking Quantitative Risk with a Bachelor of Arts will require at least an extra semester of study to complete the requirements for both degrees.

Table 1: Definition of 'Science' courses

'Science' courses are courses offered by the following Schools. The course prefixes that are associated with each School are in bold:

 

Students must complete a 48 UoC Honours sequence at Stage 4. Progression to Stage 4 is subject to academic performance and requires the completion of a total of 144 UoC and all the requirements of the first three years of the program, including Level I, major, and General Education requirements.

To progress to Honours, students are required to have achieved a WAM of 70 or higher in their level III mathematics courses, and a WAM of 70 or higher in the level III courses for their chosen major and honours discipline. Students should seek the guidance of the School of Mathematics and Statistics at an early stage of study to ensure that the study plan being followed is best suited to lead to the Stage 4 Honours. Applications for admission into Honours should be made with the School of Mathematics and Statistics. Students who are ineligible to progress to Honours, will be required to transfer to the Bachelor of Science program (3970) and graduate with the Bachelor of Science award at pass level. Students should be aware that not all 3956 majors are available in program 3970 (meaning that graduation in 3970 may occur in a less specialized major).

Students completing Stage 4 Honours will be considered for the award of Honours according to the following scale based on performance in the thesis and the 5 courses taken as part of the Honours year. The thesis contributes 37.5% to the overall honours mark, and the 5 courses each contribute 12.5%.

Students enrolled in the Advanced Mathematics (Honours) program who wish to take out the BSc award at pass level without proceeding to Honours are required to transfer to the Science program (3970). Applications to transfer should be lodged no later than the census date for the semester in which the student expects to satisfy requirements. Students applying after that date may not be able to graduate in the next round of ceremonies.

See the Single and Dual Degree Program Rules above.

For information regarding fees for UNSW programs, please refer to the following website:  UNSW Fee Website.

In addition to choosing ‘Science’ and General Education courses as per the Program Rules above, students may take up to 36 UoC of free electives in the single degree program. These free electives can be taken from any Faculty at UNSW subject to the rule that no more than 72 units of credit of Level I courses (including courses taken for General Education) can be taken throughout the program.

Students may choose to undertake further ‘Science’ courses, or may explore subject areas from outside of Science. For students interested in developing their research skills, the following courses are highly recommended:

The Faculty of Science has created Undergraduate Program Guides to help students choose courses based on the requirements of their chosen major/s. The documents should be used as a guide only and in conjunction with the program rules outlined above.

To access the program guide for your major, visit Undergraduate Program Guides

The Areas of Specialisation listed below provide links to general subject area descriptions and is not a list of available majors in this degree. For a list of approved majors, refer to the Program Rules above.

The Faculty of Science has some rules that relate to all students enrolled in programs offered by the Faculty in relation to recognition for prior learning, general education, course exclusions, study load, and cross-institutional study. All students should read the information contained on the Faculty General Rules and Requirements page in this Handbook.