Graduate Language Exams
The Ph.D. program in Mathematics or Mathematical Statistics
requires that an exam be taken to test competence in reading one of
the following foreign languages: French, German, or Russian. This
exam must be passed before the final oral Ph.D. examination
("dissertation defense") can be scheduled. The language requirement
can be waived by the Graduate Director for students whose native
language is one of the three languages above.
Click here to see the date of the next language exam.
The format for the language exam is simple; students are given a short
mathematical passage (1-3 pages) to read and translate. Use of a
dictionary is allowed. The purpose of the language exam is to prove
that the student is capable of reading some of the important
mathematical literature not published in English. Below are sample
passages in each of the three languages.
Sample Passage in French
Hermite,
Sur deux intégrales doubles
Sample Passage in German
H. Weyl, Der Zusammenhang zwischen der symmetrischen und der linearen Gruppe
Sample Passage in Russian
S. Novikov, Smooth manifolds of the same
homotopy type
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