Welcome to Applied Mathematics

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The Department of Applied Mathematics has 30 faculty members and over 100 graduate students. We offer undergraduate plans in Applied Mathematics and Mathematical Physics that attract outstanding students. The wide range of interdisciplinary research being undertaken in the department provides a stimulating environment for our graduate program.

The department has research programs in         

New: Modified AM undergraduate programs from Fall 2025! (Including the AM-SciML program, our new major focusing on Scientific Machine Learning; new course AMATH 345 - Data-Driven Mathematical modeling; a new Climate and Sustainability specialization; and PHYS 121 no longer being required for the AM major.) 

News

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Tuesday, September 1, 2026

School on Port-Hamiltonian Systems

A very successful School on Port-Hamiltonian Systems took place at the University of Waterloo, Canada, on August 14–15, 2026, see https://lnkd.in/et6VNwQn.

Around 30 participants joined us for two intensive days exploring the foundations, modeling, analysis, control, and numerical treatment of port-Hamiltonian systems.

A big thank you to our excellent speakers: David C. Del Rey Fernández (Waterloo, Canada), Hannes Gernandt (Wuppertal, Germany), Birgit Jacob (Wuppertal, Germany), Yann Le Gorrec (Besançon, France), Alessandro Macchelli (Bologna, Italy), Kirsten Morris (Waterloo, Canada), and Hector Ramirez (Valparaíso, Chile) for their inspiring lectures and discussions.

The school was organized by Kirsten Morris (University of Waterloo) and Birgit Jacob (University of Wuppertal, CRC 1701 | Port-Hamiltonian Systems 1701) and was generously supported by Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC), the University of Waterloo, and CRC 1701 | Port-Hamiltonian Systems 1701 “Port-Hamiltonian Systems”.

Two days full of mathematics, exchange, and new connections — and a great contribution to the growing international port-Hamiltonian systems community.
Group of people sitting at desk
Tuesday, September 1, 2026

The 27th International Symposium on Mathematical Theory of Networks and Systems (MTNS 2026)

University of Waterloo hosted August 17-21 the 27th International Symposium on Mathematical Theory of Networks and Systems (MTNS 2026), bringing together mathematicians and engineers from 6 continents working in systems theory, networks, and control. Roberto Guglielmi & Kirsten Morris of Applied Mathematics along with Stephen Smith (ECE) and John-Simpson-Porco were the organizers.  The biennial conference with 170 attendees featured a rich technical program that included plenary and semi-plenary lectures and numerous presentations spanning control theory, optimization, machine learning, networked systems, robotics, and energy systems. It was wonderful to see the exchange of ideas, foster collaborations, and explore new research directions at the intersection of mathematics and engineering. The conference was supported by the Faculty of Mathematics and The Fields Institute For Research In Mathematical Sciences.
Tuesday, August 4, 2026

Applied Math alum and professor receive IFAC Triennial Journal Award

Former PhD student Yiming Meng, now an Assistant Professor at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (Guangzhou), and Professor Jun Liu have received the 2026 Nonlinear Analysis: Hybrid Systems Paper Prize.

The prize recognizes outstanding contributions to the field of hybrid systems published in the International Federation of Automatic Control (IFAC) journal Nonlinear Analysis: Hybrid Systems. At each IFAC World Congress, the prize is awarded to the authors of two selected papers published in the journal during the preceding three years.

Meng and Liu received the award for their paper, “Lyapunov-barrier characterization of robust reach–avoid–stay specifications for hybrid systems”, published in Nonlinear Analysis: Hybrid Systems in 2023. The award will be presented during the Closing Ceremony of the 23rd IFAC World Congress, to be held August 23–28, 2026, in Busan, Republic of Korea.

This is Professor Liu's second Nonlinear Analysis: Hybrid Systems Paper Prize. He and University of Michigan Professor Necmiye Ozay received the same award in 2017 for their paper “Finite abstractions with robustness margins for temporal logic-based control synthesis.” 

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