Educational Sciences and Mathematics
Educational Sciences and Mathematics is one of MDU's six research specialisations. Here researchers are working primarily to raise the quality of Swedish education and to develop hi-tech industry with the aid of mathematics.
The research in Educational Sciences comprises four research environments:
Children and young people at school in society
The research of the BUSS profile takes its point of departure in a holistic perspective of how children and young people encounter preschool and compulsory school.
Mathematics, Science and Engineering including subject didactics
The subject didactics research that is conducted in Mathematics, Science and Engineering is characterised by the fact that it theorises the study and development of practices.
Language Studies and Comparative Literature including Subject Didactics
In the research environment of Language Studies and Comparative Literature including Subject Didactics (SOLD), we apply a perspective which is both subject- and didactics-oriented on Language Studies and Comparative Literature. Subject didactics research in the humanities plays a major part in the development of teaching in higher education and schools.
Studies on Social Sustainability in Education
The research group Studies on Social Sustainability in Education (SOS-ED) develops and disseminates national and international research on social sustainability in formal and informal education contexts through dialogues with the research community as well as with society in general.
Higher Education at MDU – Research and Development
Research in Higher Education aims to generate insights into higher education teaching and learning by studying the interactions, institutions, policies, norms, values, structures, and human attributes that shape educational processes and outcomes.
The research in Mathematics and Applied Mathematics comprise one research environment:
Mathematics and Applied Mathematics
Mathematics and Applied Mathematics (MAM) is a strong research profile both nationally and internationally which has the main responsibility for research and doctoral studies within the subject Mathematics/Applied Mathematics at MDU.
Knowledge in educational sciences forms the foundation of societal development.
Swedish education must therefore maintain high quality and give everyone the chance of equally good education in preschool, school and higher education. MDU's research contributes to this by new insights into the varying needs of children, youths and adults in relation to teaching and learning. In each research environment there is one or more research groups conducting research and development in the educational sciences.
Research in the educational sciences is interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary and deals with questions of education, teaching and learning of particular importance to preschool, school, adult education and teacher education. Here there is research in teaching, special educational needs, preschool education and didactics as well as didactics research in the subjects of Mathematics, Natural Science, Technology and the Humanities.
Much of the research within the area of educational science is conducted in close cooperation with preschools and schools in the region. Importance is also attached to collaboration, both nationally and internationally.
Third-cycle studies Didactics
Mathematics and Applied Mathematics
MDU conducts high-quality research in Mathematics and Applied Mathematics, which contributes towards developing today’s hi-tech industry. Here there is also important research in Business and Economics, Finance, as well as calculation models for behaviour and culture.
Mathematics and Applied Mathematics is a strong research environment nationally and internationally. Research and research groups within the field have received funding from VR (the Swedish Research Council), EU, Sida (the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency), KVA (the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences) and other research financiers and regional collaboration partners. Through projects, networks and conferences, active participation in national and international research takes place, as well as applications of mathematical methods and models in other sciences and technologies.
Research in Mathematics/Applied Mathematics has four main areas of focus:
- Stochastic Processes, Statistics and Financial Engineering
- Engineering Mathematics
- Algebra and Analysis with applications
- Discrete Mathematics and Modelling of Behaviour and Culture
Mathematics and Applied Mathematics acts as a research base for all courses and programmes within the areas of Engineering, Business and Economics, and Mathematics/Applied Mathematics at MDU. This environment contributes towards all the University’s established research specialisations, and it applies in research and research studies as well as in Bachelor’s studies.
More information about MAM reserach environment activities
External link, opens in new window.
Third-cycle studies Mathematics/Applied mathematics
Third-cycle courses in Mathematics/Applied Mathematics
More information about
Educational Sciences and Mathematics
For more information about Educational Sciences contact the Head of Research, Andreas Ryve. For more information about Mathematics, please contact the Head of Research for Mathematics, Olof Bergvall.
Ongoing research projects
The project studies the emergence and consequences of new technologier for information dispersal and processing in a new way, based on evolutionary thinking. How do digital information technologies transform cultural evolution, and what are the likely effects on individuals and society?
Project manager at MDU: Fredrik Jansson
Main financing: Marianne och Markus Wallenbergs stiftelse
The purpose is to improve our understanding of the structure of increasing subsequences in random permutations. This is a natural first step towards the greater goal of creating a theory of random permutations analogous to the rich existing theory of random graphs.
Project manager at MDU: Jonas Sjöstrand
Main financing: Vetenskapsrådet
The main purpose of this project is to test how far a domain-general approach to language learning can go. Most models of artificial language learning available are not cognitively plausible, and our aim is to demonstrate that sequence memory, chunking, and generalizing are sufficient to learn language.
Project manager at MDU: Jérome Michaud
Main financing: The Swedish Research Council