Interdisciplinary mathematics is a branch of mathematics that combines math skills with knowledge of another subject, most commonly science, business, medicine, or engineering. Employers who require professionals with strong math skills but a broader scope of application than traditional mathematics majors will benefit from this modern training approach to educating math majors. Interdisciplinary mathematics is offered colleges and universities as an alternative to one-dimensional math degrees, which result in fewer job opportunities for graduates. Employers used to have to retrain math majors to fit into positions in other fields in the past.
Universities create interdisciplinary mathematics academic tracks for students pairing instructors from various departments to mentor students and provide a personalized path of study that emphasizes the use of ratios, measurements, proofs, and patterns in non-math fields. This type of hybrid research is typically done at the doctoral level, but some schools offer master’s degrees in interdisciplinary mathematics. Enrollees must typically have a bachelor’s degree in mathematics, as well as a number of graduate-level math courses and pass interdisciplinary mathematics qualifying examinations. Graduates with interdisciplinary math degrees can work in industry or research as consultants.
Mathematical biology, also known as biomathematics, is one of the most common areas of interdisciplinary mathematics. This branch of mathematics studies the growth and change of living organisms, such as bacteria, using data mining and mathematical projections. Mathematic biology is also used to research genetic codes and diseases. Neuroscience, ecology, and evolutionary biology all benefit from biomathematics training.
Another type of interdisciplinary mathematics is financial mathematics, which prepares students for future careers in business or agriculture. Interpreting global financial markets, interest, investment statistics, and risk management are all topics of study. Graduates of financial mathematics can use computational models to track both linear and nonlinear consumer behavior in the real world. Government agencies, utility companies, and bankers are among the companies that hire people with interdisciplinary mathematics degrees in finance. Operations research is another branch of interdisciplinary mathematics that uses computation techniques to shape how executives design management systems and run agencies for maximum efficiency.
For interdisciplinary work, there are five types of math skills that are most sought after. The first is the ability to identify problems using objective and statistical methods; objective problem definition and the application of analytical techniques to provide solutions are two additional skills. Expert mathematicians bring two more abilities to the table: the ability to formulate theories and conduct experiments. Such abilities can be useful in a variety of fields and can be applied across a wide range of job markets.