Archive for Theoretical Physics and Mathematics

Masters in Theoretical Physics & Mathematics at Maynooth

Posted in Education, Maynooth, The Universe and Stuff with tags , , on April 30, 2024 by telescoper

I may not be in Maynooth this academic year but that doesn’t stop me using the medium of this blog to advertise the fact that the MSc in Theoretical Physics & Mathematics is open to applications for entry in September.

This postgraduate course is run jointly between the Departments of Theoretical Physics and Mathematics & Statistics, with each contributing about half the material. The duration is one calendar year (full-time) or two years (part-time) and consists of 90 credits in the European Credit Transfer System (ECTS). This is split into 60 credits of taught material (split roughly 50-50 between Theoretical Physics and Mathematics) and a research project of 30 credits, supervised by a member of staff in a relevant area from either Department.

Here is an instagram post advertising the course:

This course is a kind of follow-up to the existing undergraduate BSc Theoretical Physics & Mathematics at Maynooth, also run jointly. We think the postgraduate course will appeal to many of the students on that programme who wish to continue their education to postgraduate level, though applications are very welcome from suitably qualified candidates who did their first degree elsewhere.

There is a central system for postgraduate applications in Ireland (called PAC) that is similar to the undergraduate admissions system. You will need to apply online via PAC after the following the instructions here. The requisite PAC code for the full-time version of the course is MHQ56.

The closing date for applications is 30th June 2024.

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Masters in Theoretical Physics & Mathematics at Maynooth

Posted in Education, Maynooth, The Universe and Stuff with tags , , on February 6, 2024 by telescoper

Yesterday was a holiday in Ireland but now, with the January examinations over, it’s back to teaching. I am not in Maynooth to enjoy the fun but I can use the medium of this blog to advertise the fact that the MSc in Theoretical Physics & Mathematics is now open to applications for entry in September.

This postgraduate course is run jointly between the Departments of Theoretical Physics and Mathematics & Statistics, with each contributing about half the material. The duration is one calendar year (full-time) or two years (part-time) and consists of 90 credits in the European Credit Transfer System (ECTS). This is split into 60 credits of taught material (split roughly 50-50 between Theoretical Physics and Mathematics) and a research project of 30 credits, supervised by a member of staff in a relevant area from either Department.

This course is a kind of follow-up to the existing undergraduate BSc Theoretical Physics & Mathematics at Maynooth, also run jointly. We think the postgraduate course will appeal to many of the students on that programme who wish to continue their education to postgraduate level, though applications are very welcome from suitably qualified candidates who did their first degree elsewhere.

Postgraduate admissions in Ireland operate differently from the UK, in that there is a central system in Ireland (called PAC) that is similar to the undergraduate admissions system; in the UK PG courses are dealt with by individual institutions. You will need to apply online via PAC after the following the instructions here. The requisite PAC code for the full-time version of the course is MHQ56.

The closing date for applications is 30th June 2024.

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Times of Offers

Posted in Education, Maynooth with tags , , , , on August 31, 2023 by telescoper

It’s that time of year again when I break with the self-imposed tradition of not buying a newspaper during the week. I don’t usually buy a newspaper during the week but today is the day the full set of CAO points required for different courses across the land are published in the print edition of the Irish Times, about ten days earlier than last year. This is of course just the first round of offers so things may change over the next week or two.

Students now have to decide whether to accept their first-round offer or try to change course. Departments won’t know how many new students they have for a while yet.

The official low-tech results for Maynooth (in the lower right of the page shown above) are here. Minimum points required for Maynooth’s most important course, MH206 Theoretical Physics and Mathematics, are 494 this year, down a little from 510 last year. MH201 General Science is 350 this year compared to 400 last year; MH204 Physics with Astrophysics is 376 this year, down from 423 last year. MH101 General Arts – the most popular course at Maynooth and indeed in all Ireland – has a first round offer of 310 this year, down from 338 last year.

In fact, most courses I have looked at, not only at Maynooth, have lower first-round offers this year than last year. This is confirmed by this news item which says:

In more good news for this year’s applicants, there has been a fall in the points requirement for more than 60% of Level 8 courses.

This is interesting because it contrasts with news stories about grade inflation at the Leaving Certificate. How does one reconcile the fact that a majority of courses are asking for lower points, when the average points are going up? I think part of the answer lies in the fact that the CAO points needed for a course is largely about demand versus capacity rather than academic performance. For the last few years Maynooth University has been recruiting more and more students, putting pressure on accommodation, teaching loads and campus space. It seems likely that the desire to keep this trend going is at least part of the reason for the large falls in CAO points here. This is probably happening to some extent across the sector, though Maynooth has a more urgent need for more students – to pay for the legions of new managers it has appointed.

Another part of the answer is that one subject in which grades have fallen this year is Mathematics, specifically Higher Mathematics. Mathematics is a core subject for the Leaving Certificate and it therefore has the potential to have an effect across the board. A fall in the top grades at Higher Maths will propagate downwards through many subjects.

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MSc in Theoretical Physics & Mathematics at Maynooth

Posted in Education, Maynooth, The Universe and Stuff with tags , , on May 25, 2023 by telescoper

Now that the exams are over I thought I’d take the opportunity to promote our new MSc in Theoretical Physics & Mathematics. The existence of this was only announced in April and it was fully opened to applications just a couple of weeks ago. The University’s social media people have been pushing it very hard recently with, so I’m told, some success! Here are a few examples of the images that have been used in the ads:

Anyway, this (new) postgraduate course will be run jointly between the Departments of Theoretical Physics and Mathematics & Statistics, with each contributing about half the material. The duration is one calendar year (full-time) or two years (part-time) and consists of 90 credits in the European Credit Transfer System (ECTS). This will be split into 60 credits of taught material (split roughly 50-50 between Theoretical Physics and Mathematics) and a research project of 30 credits, supervised by a member of staff in a relevant area from either Department.

This new course is a kind of follow-up to the existing undergraduate BSc Theoretical Physics & Mathematics at Maynooth, also run jointly. We think the postgraduate course will appeal to many of the students on that programme who wish to continue their education to postgraduate level, though applications are very welcome from suitably qualified candidates who did their first degree elsewhere.

Postgraduate admissions in Ireland operate differently from the UK, in that there is a central system in Ireland (called PAC) that is similar to the undergraduate admissions system; in the UK PG courses are dealt with by individual institutions. You will need to apply online via PAC after the following the instructions here. The requisite PAC code for the full-time version of the course is MHQ56.

If you apply by 30th June you may be eligible for one of the University’s Taught Masters Scholarships!

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Irish Times Supplement

Posted in Education, Maynooth with tags , , , , on September 9, 2022 by telescoper

I don’t usually buy a newspaper during the week but I noticed that today the Irish Times published a special supplement to mark these momentous times so I made an exception. Yes, today is the day the full set of CAO points are published in the print edition, about a year since last year. The official low-tech results for Maynooth are here. Minimum points required for Maynooth’s most important course, MH206 Theoretical Physics and Mathematics, are 510 this year, down a little from 521 last year, but the same as two years ago. Generally speaking, as expected, the points for other courses seem roughly the same as last year.

Students now have to decide whether to accept their first-round offer or try to change course. I suspect there might be fewer this year doing that because of the accommodation shortage, but that remains to be seen…

P.S. There was another supplement in today’s Irish Times about the death of Queen Elizabeth II.

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Points and Offers

Posted in Education, Maynooth with tags , , , , on September 13, 2020 by telescoper

I spent a bit of time yesterday poring over the CAO offers supplement in the Weekend edition of the Irish Times. The extensive listings, of which the above picture shows just part, show the minimum number of points needed for first round offers at Ireland’s third-level institutions. Students who have met the requirements for a course they applied to have until 16th September to decide whether to accept. There is then another round of offers starting a week later on 23rd September and closing on 25th September.

Much has been made of the increase in points needed for many courses since last year. That is indeed borne out by the table, though many of the increases are relatively small.

The denominated programme in Theoretical Physics and Mathematics at Maynooth University, for example, is up 22 points on 510 from last year’s 488 but that’s not an exceptionally high figure in historical terms.

On the other hand, offers for both Mathematics and Theoretical Physics at Trinity College are both down on last year (to 531 from 566 and from 565 to 543, respectively).

There are other courses here and there that have gone down too. I suspect part of the reason for this is that some courses have been allocated extra places and have had to drop their points to recruit the additional students.

Finally I noticed that the first-round points for Equine Business at Maynooth University are unchanged on last year at 357. That may not be the final offer, though. There is probably quite a lot of horse-trading in store…

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