About

The Department of Mathematics and Statistics is under the Faculty of Applied Sciences. The Department of Mathematics and Statistics is the only department at the Polytechnic, which has the responsibility of offering relevant Mathematical Sciences modules. Besides offering several undergraduate and post-graduate degrees, the academic members of staff in the Department also service other departments by teaching modules in mathematics and statistics.  

What We Currently Offer

The Department offers three Bachelor of Science degrees in three disparate, yet related, areas. The goal of the programmes is to train students with relevant skills and knowledge in the fields of statistics and computing, mathematics and computing, and mathematics and statistics.  

The aim of the programme in Statistics and Computing is to produce statisticians, computer scientists, and teachers capable of teaching technical, higher training institutions and secondary level education. And they should exhibit a high level of practical and theoretical skills over a broad range of statistics and computer science together with knowledge of currently available techniques and technologies. Similarly, the degree in Mathematics and Computing aims to build the student’s knowledge, skills and competency in this area. The aim of the programme in Mathematics and Statistics is to produce mathematicians, statisticians and teachers capable of teaching mathematics and statistics to secondary school students.

The Department also offers four post-graduate programmes: an MPhil in Applied Statistics, and MPhil in Applied Mathematics, a Ph.D. in Applied Statistics, and a Ph.D in Mathematics. The goal of all the post-graduate degree programs is to support Malawi’s economic development strategies through application of scientific research and tailor-made capacity building in public and private sector through the application of mathematical methods. 

They aim is to develop candidates’ scientific competencies and research skills to enable them to identify critical issues in public and private sector requiring mathematical solutions, and ability to carry out scholarly research which contributes new theoretical constructs to advance knowledge, and to effectively inform public and private sector policy and develop solutions for emerging challenges.  

Other Ventures

Members of staff in the Department are involved in carrying out consultancies and research. Some of them work closely with the Centre for Water, Sanitation, Health & Appropriate Technology Development (WASHTED), also based at the Polytechnic.