Applied mathematics refers to those topics in mathematics that are most useful for analyzing real world applications in engineering, physics, chemistry, earth sciences and biological sciences. Job opportunities for applied mathematicians exist in most industries as well as in the national laboratories such as Sandia, Los Alamos and Lawrence Livermore Labs.
Academic opportunities exist in limited quantities for applied mathematicians with a Ph.D. degree.
At UM we specialize in biological modeling. These models include population models, natural resource models, chemical oscillations such as those that may resemble circadian rhythms, and purely biological models such as those involving the dynamics in a cell or the growth of bones. Such concepts as Fourier series, chaos, bursting, oscillations and steady states are important topics in this option. The applied mathematics option requires the ability to do rigorous analysis, so this option can be chosen by students planning to do graduate work in an applied science or mathematics.