The Master's Research Program in Mathematical Optimization was approved in February 2018 by the Council of Higher Education through resolution RPC-SO-09-No.118-2018. This program aims to train researchers in the field of applied mathematics, with specific knowledge and skills in the following areas:
- Operations research
- Continuous optimization and optimal control
- Discrete optimization and transportation
- Machine learning algorithms (Machine Learning and data science)
- Image processing
- Data assimilation
The Master's program will enable future researchers to generate mathematical modeling solutions for various practical problems that arise in industry and society, such as:
- Logistics and transportation: (inventory management, supply chain management, vehicle routing, and public transportation planning)
- Modeling of meteorological and climatic phenomena (optimal sensor placement, parameter estimation in atmospheric models)
- Biosciences and bioinformatics (medical image processing, epidemic control, computational medicine, phylogeny reconstruction)
In addition to the analysis of mathematical models and underlying theoretical problems in the mentioned areas, this master's program will place special emphasis on the development of efficient solution algorithms and their computational implementation as decision-support software tools. The training received by a Master's graduate in Mathematical Optimization will enable them to successfully pursue an academic career within a doctoral program or choose professional positions that require researchers with a solid understanding of mathematical modeling of real-world problems.
Curricular Structure
The master's program has a total duration of 2156 hours, spread over three academic semesters. The curriculum is further enriched by attending specialized seminars organized by professors from the Escuela Politécnica Nacional and invited scholars from other universities and globally relevant research centers.
As a research-based master's program, it requires full-time dedication from the students. The program is offered in a face-to-face format (classes will be taught virtually only while COVID-related restrictions are in place).
Curriculum Overview
Admission Requirements
Applicants to this research master's program should have a solid understanding of the basic concepts of calculus in one and several variables, as well as a good grasp of fundamental notions related to vector spaces, linear transformations, and their matrix representations. Additionally, applicants are expected to have a special interest in the mathematical formulation of practical problems and creative problem-solving..
Application Procedure
Those interested in applying to the program should contact the Admissions Office at Escuela Politécnica Nacional ( admision.registro@epn.edu.ec ) and request the payment order to pay the corresponding admission fee.
Once you receive the payment invoice, you should send it, along with the required documents in the specified order and in a single PDF file, to admision.registro@epn.edu.ec within the established deadlines (click here to download a checklist)
- Proof of payment of the admission fee.
- Copy of your national identification card and voting certificate (or passport for foreign applicants).
- Admission application (download the form in Word or PDF format).
- Simple copy of the bachelor's degree and the SENESCYT degree registration report generated on the SENESCYT platform. The degree should preferably be in the fields listed in this annex. Sistema Nacional de Información de la Educación Superior del Ecuador
- Certified copy of the academic transcript or degree certificate, showing the final GPA in a program related to the one you are applying for.
- Certificate of English language proficiency at level B1 according to the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (**). This certificate will be validated by the Centro de Educación Continua (CEC).
- Two letters of recommendation from professors or professionals who have supervised your academic work or professional performance.
- Curriculum vitae (free format).
- Motivation letter, maximum two pages in A4 size (free format).
- Registration Instructions
After the document review, pre-qualified applicants for the admission process will need to take an admission exam on the date provided below. The selection of applicants will be based on the evaluation of their resumes and the results obtained in the exam.
Costs and Scholarships
The total cost of the master's program (tuition and fees) is USD 4,342.22. Escuela Politécnica Nacional offers various types of scholarships for research master's programs. You can download the relevant extract from the currently valid Scholarship, Financial Aid, and Discounts.
Admission Exam Topics
- Calculus in one and several variables: real functions in one and several variables; limits and continuity; differentiability and Taylor expansion formulas; implicit function theorem. Bibliography: Mathematical Analysis. An Introduction to Functions of Several Variables, Giaquinta, Mariano & Modica, Giuseppe; Real and Complex Analysis, Walter Rudin
- Linear Algebra: vector spaces; subspaces; sums and direct sums of subspaces; inner product; orthogonal complements; spanning sets; linear independence; bases and dimension; linear transformations and their matrix representation; kernel and range spaces; invertibility of applications and matrices; isomorphic spaces. Bibliography: Linear Algebra and its Applications, Gilbert Strang; Linear Algebra Done Right, Sheldon Axler
For reference, you can download the admission exams from 2015 and 2018
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Academic Staff
We have highly qualified professors who are dedicated to their work. Our group has over 40 scientific publications in ISI/SCOPUS indexed journals in the last 5 years.
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Collaborations
We work in direct collaboration with the Center for Mathematical Modeling (ModeMat) and the National Laboratory for Scientific Computing, as well as various universities and research centers at the national and international levels. This enables us to maintain a continuous offering of research projects in which students can complete their master's theses.
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Doctorate
Graduates of our program have good prospects for pursuing doctoral studies. The Department of Mathematics at the National Polytechnic School offers, in cooperation with the Center for Mathematical Modeling, a Doctorate program in Applied Mathematics.