The Department of Mathematics strongly encourages U.S. citizens and U.S. permanent residents to apply for competitive fellowships from the National Science Foundation, the Department of Defense (NDSEG) and other sources, public or private and also encourages international students to explore financial support options within their own countries. Approximately half of our entering graduate students receive major financial support from sources outside MIT.

An offer of admission to the Ph.D. program generally includes an offer of financial support from the Department of Mathematics. Department resources include a number of fellowships intended for first year students but financial support is generally in the form of Teaching Assistantships (TAs). Applicants need not complete any special form in order to be considered for financial support. Continuing graduate students in the Department of Mathematics are generally awarded Teaching Assistantships (TAs) or in some cases Research Assistantships (RAs), though a few fellowships also exist. Financial support is renewed for students making satisfactory progress towards their degrees, up to a total of four years, with the type of award sometimes varying.

The Department provides financial support for the nine-month academic year. Each award of 50% or greater financial support consists of a tuition and salary/stipend component as well as an individual rate medical insurance benefit: awards of less than 50% cannot include medical insurance benefits. TA, RA, or fellowship awards in the Department of Mathematics either provide full tuition or supplement outside awards up to the level of full tuition in addition to providing a stipend. The monthly salary/stipend of a TA and an RA are the same, $2,400/month ($10,800 per term or $21,600 for the 2008-2009 nine-month academic year September 1 - May 31). The amount paid by fellowship stipends provided by the Department or the Institute may vary but are typically higher than the stipend level provide to TAs and RAs. INS regulations restrict international students with fulltime TAs or RAs from accepting any other employment during the regular semester. Students with a fulltime TA are discouraged from taking on additional hours of employment, even if permitted, during the semester. Some financial support may also be available during the summer.

Teaching Assistantships (TAs)

Two types of TA jobs exist in Math, grading and teaching recitation sections, each requiring 12 hours of work per week. Both types of jobs are paid at the same rate; both entail service-course and final exam proctoring responsibilities. The Undergraduate Math Office assigns service-course proctoring duties from the first day of classes through the end of the Final Exam Period. One faculty member in Pure Math and one in Applied Math determine TA grading assignments at the start of the term, trying to select the student best suited for each particular job. Grading assignments may require any or all of the following: grading homework and/or exams, writing solutions to problem sets, proctoring for the class, and holding office hours. Students are expected to meet and communicate with the Instructor to clarify specific duties as soon as assignments are announced. Instructors establish all rules for each TA job: the TA assignment should be viewed as a contract between the Instructor, acting on behalf of the Department, and the student. If a problem arises or if a TA needs to be absent from campus for some time during the period of the TA assignment, the TA should make this known to the Instructor as well as the Undergraduate Math Office. Satisfactory performance of all TA duties is expected. Faculty will evaluate TA performance each semester. Unsatisfactory performance as a TA could result in pay reduction. In extreme cases, students will be placed on Academic Warning at the end of the semester with future funding in jeopardy.

The Department of Mathematics takes training for students and postdocs who teach recitation sections of service courses very seriously. A student applying for any sort of academic job needs to have a letter in his or her file attesting to teaching ability. In order to teach recitation sections in Math Department courses, students must complete the departmental teacher training program. It is required of graduate students and strongly recommended of (and very widely embraced by) postdocs. This program is supervised by Michel Goemans and Denis Auroux with special assistance from Arthur Mattuck. Demonstrated proficiency in English is a prerequisite to participation in the teacher training program. Please see information on English Proficiency here.

1. Practice Teaching - The semester before actual teaching is to begin, the student attends an ongoing recitation for several sessions and then, mentored by the current recitation leader, conducts the class for most of an hour. The students in that class and the recitation leader then evaluate the performance. Those interested in Practice Teaching must sign up as early in the semester as possible: consult staff in the Graduate Math Office. Successful completion of Practice Teaching is a prerequisite to participation in the Microteaching Workshop.
2. Microteaching Workshop - This six-hour seminar, spread over three days, is usually offered at the end of each semester. The first session is a discussion of issues and of the responsibilities of recitation teaching, and a critique of a video of portions of several recitation classes. In the remaining sessions, each participant is assigned a problem from calculus and makes a ten-minute presentation to the group. Constructive criticism follows. The presentation is videotaped. Each videotape is reviewed by a faculty member, usually Arthur Mattuck; the faculty member then writes detailed comments to the student. The student is given a copy of the tape.
3. Recitation Teaching - If the student passes the Microteaching Workshop, he or she probably will be assigned to teach a recitation the following semester. This cannot be guaranteed because in some terms there are more available teachers than recitation sections. An early recitation of the TA is again videotaped and critiqued.

Employment

According to the Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA) of 1986, all persons have to show proof of legal eligibility of employment in order to be paid for doing a job. This applies to all U.S. citizens as well as non-citizens and imposes sanctions on all employers who hire individuals known to be "illegal aliens" or who fail to comply with the verification process. The verification process for all incoming graduate students requires completion of an I-9 form. See staff in Student Financial Services (SFS) on the 2nd floor of building 11. The entrance is at the rear of the Student Services Center, 11-120. The process must be completed prior to Registration Day in the first semester of enrollment.

In order to be eligible for employment, all new students must bring either:

• one document from List A or
• one document from List B and one document from List C

List A: Identity and Employment

• U.S. Passport
• Certificate of U.S. Citizenship
• Certificate of Naturalization
• Unexpired foreign passport with attached Employment Authorization

List B: Identity

• State Issue Driver's License or I.D. card with photograph, or information including name, sex, date of birth, height, weight, and eye color
• U.S. Military Card
• F-1 or J-1 Visa

List C: Employment

• Original U.S. Social Security Number Card
• Birth certificate issued by State, county, or municipal authority bearing a seal or other authorization
• Unexpired INS Employment Authorization
• I-20 or IAP-66 Form

All students receiving Teaching Assistantships (TAs), Research Assistantships (RAs) and Fellowships will be paid at the end of the month, September through May. Payment will be made by electronic transfer from MIT to students' individual bank accounts. It is recommended that students arrange for direct deposition by completing a bank deposit authorization (available in NE49-3077, 11-120, or a PDF may be downloaded from http://web.mit.edu/sfs/), and returning it to the MIT Payroll Office at NE49-3131.

• TA and RAs
  TA and RA stipends or salaries are subject to taxation by the state of Massachusetts and the US federal government. U.S. government tax regulations require that partial TA or RA appointments be processed with proportional amounts of tuition and stipend for each award: the Department must comply with these rules. The result in partial TAs or RAs is an overpayment in salary as well as a tuition shortfall. It is the responsibility of each student to make the appropriate financial arrangements with Student Financial Services representatives, ensuring that tuition is paid in full.
• Fellowship recipients
  Taxes are not withheld from Fellowships paid to US citizens; international students should check Tax Treaty information specific to their country on file in the Payroll Office, NE49-3131. Therefore it is the student's responsibility to file tax withholding forms each year, as early in the semester as possible. Tax-withholding forms must be renewed at regular intervals in the Payroll Office. It is anticipated that approximately 11.9% of a salary or stipend will be owed for federal taxes and an additional 5.3% for state taxes. Monthly take-home pay will be approximately $400 less than the stated monthly salary.

Additional payroll information, tax forms, and direct deposit forms are available in the Student Services Center, room 11-120. Students may be eligible to receive full or partial refund by filing the appropriate tax forms by April 15 each year. The Institute offers Tax Preparation Seminars each February (one for international students and one for U.S. citizens or U.S. permanent residents). Questions should be addressed to the Payroll Office.