In 2009, the two mathematics courses offered in Delhi University — BA (honours) maths and BSc (honours) maths — were revised after 19 years and clubbed to form a course that is open to students from both the science and humanities streams. According to Geetha Venkataraman, associate professor, department of mathematics, St Stephen’s College, ‘‘The new course — BSc (honours) mathematics — is more application based but retains three-fourths of the content of the earlier courses. It looks at the subject in a more modern way.’’ It is offered in 25 colleges in DU.

Director of South Campus, Dinesh Singh said: ‘‘BSc (honours) mathematics is based on the Gandhian philosophy of ‘what is done with your hands enters your heart’. It is practical application of mathematics. So far, it did not relate to the real world. The new course is not about teaching everything about mathematics, but about exploring its power. For instance, through the papers on mathematical modelling and differential equations students can explore planetary movements.’’

Eligibility: Students from all streams are eligible for the course, provided they studied mathematics in class XII. Maths, along with at least one language, will be counted in the best of four aggregate.

Course content: The course covers a wide range of subjects from abstract topics to those that are more applied. Of the 11 compulsory papers, three are from abstract algebra (including linear algebra) and three from analysis (including complex analysis) — one of the things that lay the foundation for this degree programme.

The courses on probability theory, C++ programming and numerical methods, differential equations and mathematics modelling provide a platform for applications.The course has twelve 100-mark papers. There are five 50-mark papers of which four are accounted for in the final score. Students have a wide range of options — physics, chemistry, economics, English, Hindi, history, political science, philosophy, Sanskrit, etc — to choose from for five papers.

Road ahead: ‘‘The broad range of subjects, methodology of learning and computing skills developed during the three years leave students with a large number of career options,’’ said Venkataraman.

Career counsellor Pervin Malhotra said: ‘‘Those interested in pure mathematical science can go for a masters programme, research, academics, teaching and even computation. Mathematics graduates can also pursue business management, financial services, chartered accountancy, statistics and MCA. Other options include hotel management, tourism, actuarial science and insurance.’’