Abstract:

We present here a new degree in mathematics and computer science. This degree received a favorable evaluation from the “National Agency of Evaluation of Quality and Accreditation (ANECA) in April 2010 and has begun to be taught this course 2010-2011.
This joint degree combines courses of mathematics and computer science, with special emphasis on the mathematical foundations of computer science and computer tools for mathematics. It focuses on areas where both disciplines are more important to each other, emphasizing the interrelations between them. These studies have as international references degrees as those taught at MIT in the United States, at the University of Oxford and the Imperial College in England or at the University of Paris VI Pierre et Marie Curie in France.
The degree is aimed at students with interest and aptitude for mathematics, with talent to solve problems and to assimilate new ideas and technologies, as well as interest in computers and their use as tools for programming algorithms to solve problems in science and engineering.
Being not a double title but a joint degree, it consists of just 240 credits arranged in four years, i.e., 30 ects each semester. One of the advantages of studying a combined title 240 credits instead of a double Bachelor degree is that with a further year (five years in total) the students might get both the bachelor degree in mathematics and computer science and a master degree in the chosen field of specialization.
For the definition of the orientation and objectives of this title, the opinion and recommendations of companies in the sector of information technologies, which have seen an increasing demand for professionals with good knowledge in Informatics and mathematics, which can also serve as liaison between experts in the two disciplines, has been taken into account.
The final aim of the degree is to train graduates in the knowledge of the nature, methods, and the most relevant purposes of mathematics, providing them with a general knowledge of computing and the interrelationship between both disciplines, allowing them to access to the job market in positions of responsibility or to continue further studies, with a high level of autonomy, in scientific or technological disciplines that require good mathematical foundations and computing.
In a title such as this one, it is essential to develop projects that integrate knowledge of mathematics and computer science. For this purpose, working groups of students are made to carry out projects involving subjects of mathematics and of computer science. On the other hand, these projects, along with the introduction of active methodologies will be very important in the development of transversal competences that the students have to attain according to the proposal report of the degree. Although the student should know how to use commercial mathematical software like Maple or Matlab, for which the University has campus licenses, or Mathematica, we intend to promote, when possible, the use of alternative freeware like python or sage for the development of these projects.
The number of students enrolled in the first course of the degree is 35. We expect to be able to present at the conference some data about the development of the first semester.