Research - Mathematical Sciences
Research at the Department of Mathematical Sciences

Mathematics is the language of technology and natural science, and an important part of our cultural heritage. It develops continually, and extensive research effort goes into both theoretical and applied mathematics.
Research groups
Algebra
Research activity is mostly oriented towards theoretical studies of algebraic questions, but they also work on more applied topics related to cryptography.
Analysis
The group's research covers harmonic analysis and complex analysis in one and several variables; applications to geometry, PDEs, and number theory; operator algebras and noncommutative geometry.
Didactics of mathematics
The research area entails empirical research on teaching and learning of mathematics, in higher education as well as in school. Research activities include algebraic thinking, task design, instructional design, and teaching practices in mathematics. There is also on-going research on transition from school to higher education, as well as on developing mathematics and statistics teaching at higher education.
Differential equations and numerical analysis (DNA)
The DNA group does research and education in pure and applied mathematics, with a special focus on theory and numerics for differential equations and optimisation problems.
Geometry & topology
The research in geometry and topology spans problems ranging from fundamental curiosity-driven research on the structure of abstract spaces to computational methods for a broad range of practical issues such as the analysis of the shapes of big data sets.
Statistics
Research activity includes computational statistics, extreme value theory, design of experiments, reliability analysis, spatial statistics, theoretical statistics, functional genomics, and stochastic and statistical modelling in ecology, evolution and conservation biology.
Conferences
Contact
PhD studies
The PhD programme in mathematical sciences is standardized to 180 credits (3 years). The final plan for the PhD programme is designed in consultation with the candidate, the supervisor and department depending on the subject area for the thesis and the candidate’s needs and preferences.
Research centres
Research centres with participants from IMF.
Norwegian Open AI Lab
The Norwegian Open AI Lab is a joint lab for research in Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning (ML), and Big Data Analytics. The lab conducts fundamental ML research, including theory and method development, as well as application-oriented research at a high international level.
The department collaborates with the AI Lab in the field of statistical machine learning.
Centre for Biodiversity Dynamics
The Centre for Biodiversity Dynamics (CBD) is an interdisciplinary centre at NTNU for research into changes in time and space of biological diversity at different organismal levels. Main research areas:
- population dynamics
- evolutionary biology
- community dynamics
Centre for Geophysical Forecasting
The Centre for Geophysical Forecasting (CGF) is a research-based innovation centre (SFI) funded by the Norwegian Research Council (NRC), Industrial partners and NTNU. It will build on the foundation of Norway's extensive existing geophysical skills and experience to apply methods and ideas that have been developed in oil and gas to areas such as transport, safety and better mapping of the earth's crust. It will also construct new and more effective tools and develop new methods for:
- monitoring and predicting CO2 storage, landslides and avalanches
- mapping life and geophysical events at sea and near the seabed
- sustainable and environmentally responsible oil and gas production
Key innovation areas:
- carbon capture and storage management
- hydrocarbon production monitoring
- geohazard monitoring and forecasting
MatRIC
The Centre for Research, Innovation and Coordination of Mathematics Teaching (MatRIC) is working for excellence in teaching mathematics in Norwegian universities and university colleges. MatRIC focuses on mathematics teaching and learning within the study programmes of other subjects such as engineering, natural sciences, economics and teacher education.