PhD in Mathematics Handbook

Handbook for Graduate Students effective September 2, 2026

Requirements and Milestones to Obtain the PhD in Pure Mathematics

  • Successful completion of the first year program consisting of nine courses. At least six of these must be core first year courses. Students are required to take at least one course from each of the core sequences.
  • Students should choose a thesis advisor by the end of their first year and should register in summer quarter for Math 59900, Reading & Research: Mathematics under their advisor's specific section number, for a total of 300 units, full time status.
  • Make an oral topic presentation together with a brief written report (usually by the end of the Winter quarter of the second year). After the topic exam is passed the student will be admitted to candidacy for the PhD degree.
  • Form a thesis committee. The process of forming a Committee is initiated by the student, first, by meeting with your advisor to discuss potential Committee members. The Committee should consist of two people, at least one reader and at least one senior faculty member here must be at your defense. In practice, many students form the exact committee very close to the date of the actual thesis defense.
  • Beginning in Year 5, the Fifth-year PSD PhD Student Progress Review form must be completed and returned to the SAA by November 15th. The form contains a written plan for the remainder of the student's graduate program. The signature of each member of the Committee on the report certifies their agreement with the written plan.
  • Students must have two faculty members read their dissertation (one may be from another institution). They must both write a report which will be emailed to the Student Affairs Administrator and distributed among the senior faculty members along with the introduction to your dissertation. At least one reader and at least one senior faculty member here must be at your defense. The first (primary) reader generally writes a description of your work and recommends that it be accepted. The second reader may simply concur with the first. It is the student's responsibility to ensure that both readers' reports are emailed to the Student Affairs Administrator by the deadline or considerably earlier if you do not plan to register the quarter of graduation. At the time the reader's reports are submitted to the Student Affairs Administrator, the student should have arranged the thesis schedule (time/date/room number, title of thesis, thesis committee member's names and if applicable, the Zoom link of the defense). Also, please email the SAA a separate PDF of your introduction for distribution and a separate PDF of the preliminary dissertation. In this process, a number of University and Department deadlines have to be obeyed.
  • Students must follow Divisional processes for graduation, including submitting an application to graduate by Friday of the first week of their expected graduation quarter.
  • Complete and present a dissertation under the guidance of a faculty member. This has three parts:
    • Complete a written dissertation containing original, substantial, and publishable mathematical results.
    • Present the contents of the dissertation in an open lecture.
    • Pass an oral examination based on the material of the dissertation and the field of mathematics in which it lies.
  • If a thesis is not submitted by the identified deadline, students are required to meet with the Director of Graduate Studies and may be put on academic probation.
  • File the dissertation according to the Dissertation Office process and requirements.

After your department has reviewed and approved your final dissertation PDF, you may file your dissertation. The dissertation is not considered filed without the signed departmental approval form that you should request from your SAA. If you have questions about this part of the process, see Departmental Approval Forms and the Departmental Review.

Follow these steps to file your dissertation:

Go to Knowledge@UChicago

  • Click on Submit at the top of the page
  • Choose Doctoral Dissertation
  • Log in with your CNetID and password
  • Access the submission form
  • Add metadata for your dissertation (your name, department, etc.)
  • Check Submission Procedures for help when completing the form
  • Upload your dissertation PDF and signed Departmental Approval Form from your Student Affairs Admin. under File Uploads
  • Also, the Math Department requires you to submit your dissertation to ProQuest too, after you receive notification from Knowledge@UChicago. Students are not supposed to submit to ProQuest until their dissertation is approved in Knowledge. Then they upload that approved version to ProQuest. When the process is done this way, students only have to revise one time. Students use the ProQuest ETD Administrator to submit their dissertation to ProQuest. We notify the departmental administrator when their student's submission to ProQuest is approved. In order to have your dissertation included in ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Global, upload a copy of the same PDF you submitted to Knowledge@UChicago. Follow the submission steps and click on Submit to complete the submission process for ProQuest.
  • To review the formatting requirements and submission steps, visit the website phd.lib.uchicago.edu and click on the box labeled "I'm a PhD Student."

Please contact Colleen Mullarkey, Dissertation Office, Regenstein Library, room 104D, 773.702.7404, cmullark@uchicago.edu or phd.lib.uchicago.edu with any questions you have about formatting and/or procedures.

  • The Department of Mathematics does not have any editorial requirements other than the Dissertation Office's requirements.

First-Year Courses

The first-year students take nine courses during three quarters. Six or more of these courses must be chosen from the core sequences in analysis, algebra, and geometry and topology. Also, students are required to take at least one course from each of these sequences. See the main page describing these courses, and see below for some collected notes from some past first-year courses.

Registration

Graduate students register for the upcoming quarter during eighth week each quarter.

  • PhD students have a continuous registration requirement and should plan to register for 300 units during eighth week for the upcoming quarter.
  • Please note: Students who register on the first day of the quarter will be assessed a $100 late registration fee per University policy. You can avoid this fee by registering during eighth week.

Add/drop: The add/drop period refers to the first three weeks of a quarter. This is the timeframe in which students can adjust their registrations. Courses dropped after the end of third week typically result in a "W" (Withdrawal) notation on the transcript.

A registration reference guide is available to assist you with registering for classes.

Program Time Limits

Our offer of admission includes an annual funding package for five years, with a possible sixth-year extension subject to a decision of the graduate committee, provided the student is making good academic progress, including satisfactory completion of all program requirements. The Division has a seven-year registration limit for all PhD students. Students who need to petition for additional time beyond these limits should consult with the Graduate Committee and the Dean of Students Office.

Graduate Degrees in Mathematics

The graduate program of the Department of Mathematics is oriented towards students who intend to earn a Ph.D. in mathematics on the basis of work done in mathematics. The Department also offers the degree of Master of Science in mathematics, which is acquired as the student proceeds on to the Ph.D. degree. Students are not admitted with the Master of Science degree as their final objective. In addition, the department offers a separate Master of Science in Financial Mathematics degree program which is taught in the evenings. See the program listing for Financial Mathematics for more information.

The divisional requirements for these degrees can be found in the section on the Physical Sciences Division in these Announcements. Otherwise, the requirements are as follows.

The Degree of Master of Science

The candidate must pass the nine basic first year graduate courses in the areas of:

Algebra

Course Title Units
MATH 32500 Algebra I 100
MATH 32600 Algebra II 100
MATH 32700 Algebra III 100

Analysis

Course Title Units
MATH 31200 Analysis I 100
MATH 31300 Analysis II 100
MATH 31400 Analysis III 100

Topology

Course Title Units
MATH 31700 Topology and Geometry I 100
MATH 31800 Topology and Geometry II 100
MATH 31900 Topology and Geometry III 100

At the beginning of each quarter a placement exam is offered for each of the courses above. Students who pass the exam can place out of the course, but must take another course in a related area. The applicant must pass at least six of the core courses required for the Master in Science in Mathematics, either by taking and passing the course or by passing a placement exam. The first-year students must pass nine courses during three quarters. Six or more of these courses must be chosen from the core sequences above in analysis, algebra, and geometry and topology. Also, students are required to take at least one course from each of the core sequences.

Grading Policy

A passing grade for graduate students in Math 59900: Reading/Research Mathematics courses is the grade of "P".

The grading policy for first year graduate courses in mathematics:

  • P = Satisfactory progress.
  • C = Student's performance raised some concerns but these can be resolved by asking the student to do some additional work.
  • D = Student should retake course.

If a first-year student receives an F grade or two C grades, they will be placed on academic probation. If the student subsequently receives an additional C or F grade, they may be dismissed from the program. If a student receives multiple C or F grades in the same quarter, those grades may result in academic probation or dismissal from the program in the following quarter.

Admission to Candidacy

For admission to candidacy for the Doctor of Philosophy, an applicant must demonstrate the ability to meet both the divisional requirements and the departmental requirements for admission. The requirements are outlined below:

  • Successful completion of the first year program consisting of passing nine courses. The first-year students must pass nine courses during three quarters. Six or more of these courses must be chosen from the core sequences in analysis, algebra, and geometry and topology. The applicant must pass at least six of the core courses required for the Master in Science in Mathematics, either by taking and passing the course or by passing a placement exam. The applicant must pass at least one core course from each of the three sequences in Algebra, Analysis, and Geometry and Topology.

Dissertation Defense and Submission

  • The quarter in which a PhD student successfully defends the dissertation is the final quarter in which the student may be enrolled and funded, regardless of whether they graduate that quarter or in a future quarter.
  • Students are expected to submit their approved dissertations to Knowledge@UChicago, the University's open access repository, during the quarter in which they defend. In addition, math graduate students should submit their approved dissertation to ProQuest, once they receive notification that their dissertation was approved with Knowledge@UChicago.
  • Students who are unable to submit their dissertation by the submission deadline of their defense quarter must notify the PSD Dean of Students Office prior to seventh week of their defense quarter.
  • Students who are unable to deposit their dissertation prior to deposit deadlines in the quarter of their dissertation defense are expected to meet deposit and graduation deadlines for degree completion in the following quarter, during which they will be placed in a non-registered status, which will affect student privileges. Students should consult with their Dean of Students and the Office of International Affairs to understand implications. If graduation does not occur during the quarter following the defense quarter, the student will be administratively withdrawn and must consult with their Dean of Students for appropriate processes for graduation in a future quarter.
  • Students and dissertation committees should plan the date of defense carefully, paying attention to the Office of the Registrar's deadlines for graduation application and the library's deadlines for dissertation submission.
  • In rare cases where major revisions are required after the defense, and these required revisions necessitate significant research and writing such that the student needs to stay enrolled beyond the quarter of defense, students may be approved by the Dean of Students for one additional quarter of enrollment.

Finding an Advisor

Students start looking for an advisor in the winter quarter of their first year, and have usually found one by the end of the spring quarter. Students are expected to take the initiative in finding an advisor. For example, students can:

  • Email faculty members to express an interest
  • Propose a reading course on a mutually agreed topic
  • Talk to older graduate students about their experiences with various faculty

There is a Meet the Faculty Colloquium held weekly, usually in the spring quarter. Students can also get a good idea of faculty interests by going to research seminars.

Students should register in summer quarter for Math 59900, Reading & Research: Mathematics under their advisor's specific section number for a total of 300 units, full time status. Students will continue to register under their advisor's section number each quarter for the appropriate number of units to obtain full time status. Please obtain the faculty member's permission before registering under their section number for Math 59900, Reading & Research: Mathematics. If you decide to change advisors, please reach out to the Graduate Committee and obtain approval and inform your SAA of the advisor change.

Student Resources

Students with questions may contact Laurie Wail, Student Affairs Administrator or Marianna Csornyei and Luis Silvestre, Co-Chairs of the Graduate Committee, Bahareh Lampert (Dean of Students in the Physical Sciences Division), or Amanda Young (Associate Director, Graduate Student Affairs) in UChicagoGRAD.

Students are urged to approach the co-chairs of the Graduate Committee (currently Marianna Csörnyei and Luis Silvestre) if they have concerns about academic progress, health and emotional problems, or any other related issues.

Students who are requesting exceptions to Departmental policies should discuss their concerns with the Department's Graduate Student Ombudsperson or the Department Chair.

Annual Report Form

Graduate students in their first year must fill out the department's Annual Report Form by the first week in June.

Graduate students in their second year and beyond must fill out the department's Annual Report Form by the third week in March. The Student Affairs Administrator will email the form to students the first week of March.

Students are expected to maintain good academic standing throughout their graduate career. Program directors may impose restrictions or take other actions (including placing a student on Academic Probation) if a student fails to remain in good standing.

Teaching Responsibilities

On behalf of the Department, the Director of Undergraduate Studies and the Undergraduate Committee oversee all graduate student teaching in mathematics. For any questions, here is their contact information.

Here is a general outline of the teaching responsibilities of graduate students:

  • No student teaches more than one course per quarter.
  • First-year students do not do any teaching under any circumstance.
  • All second-year students, including those on outside fellowships, serve as College Fellows (apprentice teachers) in an undergraduate mathematics course each quarter under the direction of a member of the faculty. Duties include class attendance, grading homework, holding office hours, conducting problem sessions, aiding in constructing and grading exams, and giving supervised lectures. This is considered professional training.
  • Upon approval of the mentor and the recommendation of the Director of Undergraduate Studies, third-year students are approved by the College to assume the position of Lecturer in the College; this means they will be responsible for teaching stand-alone courses.
  • Students in our PhD program are generally funded via teaching assignment or fellowship stipend. In year one of their graduate studies, students are on fellowship stipend for their primary funding. In year two, students hold 3 College Fellow teaching assignments for their primary funding. Between years three and six, most students hold 8 teaching assignments for their primary funding. Students who do not hold fellowship stipend or research assignment positions will be funded as noted above. Students who are required to hold more than 3 teaching assignments in an academic year will receive additional compensation above their primary funding amount.

Financial Resources

Students who matriculate and maintain satisfactory academic progress should expect five years of financial support, including full tuition scholarship, quarterly funding, coverage of the Student Services Fee, and a PhD student's individual insurance premium. Funding comes from the University of Chicago, the National Science Foundation, and the National Need Fellowship Program of the Department of Education.

Students are encouraged further to apply for NSF graduate research fellowships, Department of Defense fellowships, and other fellowships external to the University that provide further forms of support (e.g., travel, equipment).

Travel

The department has limited funds to support student travel. The purpose of this policy is to streamline the process and make it more transparent.

  1. The support is limited to one conference per student per quarter up to $500. Students are required to pursue all other options before applying.
  2. Applications for the departmental support must be submitted to Laurie Wail by the end of the 8th week of the quarter preceding the one in which the travel takes place. Late applications will not be considered.
  3. An application must include the following information:
    • From the student: a brief description of the planned trip and the venue (including a brief outline of expected costs). Students should specify its type (conference, workshop, etc.), note whether or not they will give a talk, and whether the talk is invited or not.
    • From the advisor: a brief description of the importance of the trip to the student's research and/or career.
    The graduate travel committee may contact the applicant or the advisor for further information if necessary.
  4. The decisions will be made by the end of the quarter preceding the one in which the travel takes place. Students that are closer to their graduation will generally be given priority.

Room Reservations

Affiliated students may reserve rooms controlled by the Department of Mathematics on a first-come, first-served basis. Priority will be given to department-sponsored events. Room reservations must fall within building operating hours.

Quarterly room reservation requests/forms and other department forms can all be found on the Department Request Forms page.

Questions, please reach out to Miora Meagan Cusumano (Meagan), Math Dept., E 108, 773.834.3194, mcusumano@uchicago.edu.

All room requests related to Union matters (for the purposes of administering the Collective Bargaining Agreement between the University and GSU-UE) should instead be sent to the UChicagoGrad Room Reservation Form.

Resources and Policies

Student Manual

The Student Manual is the official statement of University policies, regulations, and expected standards of student conduct that are applicable to all students. While students should be familiar with the manual as a whole, the following are commonly referenced by graduate students:

Graduate Student Union

The terms and conditions of employment for certain graduate students at the University of Chicago who are employed to perform instructional or research services will be determined by a Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) between the University and Graduate Students United ("GSU-UE") for the duration of the assignment to perform such services. Students can access the CBA and review frequently asked questions about graduate student unionization on the Provost's Office website.

Divisional Policies

The Physical Sciences Division's student policies are applicable to all students in the PhD Program in Mathematics. Students with questions about PSD policies can reach out to their Student Affairs Administrator, Laurie Wail, lwail@math.uchicago.edu or the Dean of Students Office.

Residency Requirements

Students are expected to follow the Division's residency requirements for graduate students.

Employment

PhD students interested in adding a position beyond their primary TA or RA appointment must speak with the Student Affairs Administrator prior to accepting the additional position.

Key Contacts

In addition to faculty, there are a number of individuals who serve as resources for graduate students.

Email Lists

Students may utilize the math department internal emailing lists for department related messaging. When students use the listhost:

  • Email messages must be related to the business and mission of the Mathematics PhD program.
  • Emails of a personal nature, such as notices of items for sale, lost or found items, and solicitation of goods or services are not allowed.
  • Messages that publicize or endorse causes (even a very good cause), such as relief efforts for victims of natural disasters or organizations seeking assistance that are not already associated with the University are not allowed.
  • List-host moderators have the right to withhold any messages that do not meet the guidelines set forth in this policy.

Joint Degree Programs

A joint Ph.D. in Mathematics and Computer Science is also offered. To be admitted to the joint program, students must be admitted by both departments as follows. Each student in this program will have a primary program (either Math or CS). Students apply to their primary program. Once admitted, they can apply to the secondary program for admission to the joint program. This secondary application can occur either before they enter the program or any time during their first four years in their primary program. Simultaneous applications to both programs will also be considered (one of the programs being designated as primary).

Students enrolling in this program need to satisfy the course requirements of both departments. They have to satisfy the course requirements of their primary program on the schedule of that program, and satisfy the course requirements of their secondary program by the end of their fifth year. They also need to satisfy the examination requirements of their primary program, and are expected to write a dissertation in an area relevant to both fields.

The Department of Mathematics offers a PhD joint degree with the Department of Computer Science. More information is available here: Joint Math/CS PhD Program.

Questions, please reach out to Laci Babai, laci@uchicago.edu or Alexander Razborov, razborov@uchicago.edu.

The Department of Mathematics also offers a joint Bx/MS in Mathematics to current UChicago undergraduates. More information is available here: Joint Degree in Mathematics.