BSc Mathematics and Philosophy

The BSc Mathematics and Philosophy offers a joint-honours degree programme, representing a close and fruitful connection which has existed since the time of the ancient Greeks.

The course explores both sides of the programme, together with the interesting border region between the two. Both disciplines are given equal weight, and each offers you a wide range of options.

In your final year you do a substantial Philosophy dissertation and can choose to do a project on a mathematical topic, supervised by a member of staff. 

The content of the programme is closely linked with that of the two individual single-honours degrees, and so transfer to either of these departments is possible at the end of the first year.

• to enable students to acquire a knowledge and understanding of mathematical ideas, including the concepts of rigorous argument and formal proof, and an appreciation of the power and generality of abstract formulation and the analytic method;
• to enable students to develop their capacity to learn and apply mathematical ideas and skills;
• to promote an understanding of the significance and power of mathematics as an intellectual and applicable discipline;
• to give students and knowledge and understanding of those mathematical topics which we believe that any employer would expect of our joint degree graduates;
• to give students experience (more limited than for single honours Mathematics programmes) of advanced mathematical results, methods, ideas and thinking;
• to give students a grounding in the significant topics, problems and issues in Philosophy today;
• to provide an enhancement of the student's capacity to evaluate critically and think through and develop for themselves philosophical arguments and positions.

• In your first year, you will experience small group teaching, which is a significant part of the year.
• A wide range of options is available for you to choose in your third year.

Most teaching takes the form of lectures, with various support classes (example classes, small group tutorials or sessions in one of the computer clusters) to help you get to grips with the material, exploring topics and working on examples set by the lecturers.

Most course units have some continual assessment (which may be, for instance, a combination of homework, in-class tests, essays and presentations where appropriate), which is put together with the result of an end-of-semester examination to provide the final mark.

Some course units (such as a project) are assessed entirely by your submitted work during the semester. The class of your degree is normally based on only your last two years' work.

When you join the Department of Mathematics you will be based in the purpose-built Alan Turing Building, set at the heart of campus. Developed with input from staff and students alike, the impressive £40 million building has been designed to provide the perfect teaching and learning environment.

You will benefit from extensive facilities for computing and study, relaxation and refreshment - all in an attractive, light and comfortable setting. Our computer clusters offer the powerful mathematical and statistical software you would expect from a leading university, including Matlab and Mathematica.

The Department of Mathematics has a number of computer clusters that run the standard software as well as powerful mathematical and statistical software, such as Matlab, Minitab and Mathematica.  As a student, you will have free access to email and the internet.  Other larger clusters are available in the University libraries and clusters are situated in most Halls of Residence; most student rooms also have Ethernet connection. 

You will also have access to the John Rylands University Library of Manchester, one of the largest and best-equipped libraries in the UK. A special section of this library provides a short loan facility, where you can reliably obtain textbooks that are recommended for particular courses and borrow them on an overnight basis. The Department of Mathematics also houses a mathematical library of more advanced books and other material used mainly by research students and staff.