Applied mathematics and statistics are disciplines devoted to the use of mathematical methods and reasoning to solve real-world problems of a scientific or decision-making nature in a wide variety of subjects, principally (but not exclusively) in engineering, medicine, the physical and biological sciences, and the social sciences. Applied mathematical modeling often involves the use of systems of (partial) differential equations to describe and predict the behavior of complex real-world systems that unfold dynamically in time. Statistics, construed broadly, is the study of uncertainty: how to measure it (using ideas and methods in probability theory), and what to do about it (using concepts from statistical inference and decision theory).

Mission Statement

The mission of the Department of Applied Mathematics and Statistics is:

• to promote the sound use of theories, methods, and applications in applied mathematics (AM) and statistics (S) on the campus of the University of California, Santa Cruz, and
• to provide service to the campus, the surrounding community, the state of California, and the professions of applied mathematics and statistics,

through excellence in research and teaching.

Areas of Excellence

AMS strives to achieve excellence in various areas including:

• Dynamic mathematical modeling, fluid dynamics and control theory with applications to astrophysics, biology, earth and marine sciences, engineering, and geophysics; and
• Bayesian nonparametric methods, Bayesian inference, prediction, and decision-making with applications to bioinformatics, computational biology, machine learning, visualization and the environment

AMS is committed to teaching excellence. For undergraduates, we offer a variety of courses at the lower and upper division levels, which can be used to cover Quantitative (Q) or the Introduction to Discipline (IN) requirements. This includes an ongoing collaboration with the Mathematics department in teaching Math11A and Marth11B. We have also introduced a minor in Applied Mathematics & Statistics and plan to start a major in Applied Mathematics & Statistics sometime in the future. At the graduate level, we offer a program in Statistics and Stochastic Modeling (with the posibility of an annotation on Applied Mathematics), as well as a number of courses that are regularly taken by graduate students in other programs.