About the Department
The Department of Natural and Mathematical Sciences was established in 1974 through the merger of the Departments of Mathematics and Physics, which had been founded in 1971 with the establishment of the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering in Niš.
Since its establishment, the Department has had an important role in providing the fundamental scientific knowledge required for engineering education. Its activities cover mathematics, applied mathematics, computer science and physics, connecting fundamental sciences with their applications in mechanical engineering and other engineering disciplines.
The Department provides teaching at all levels of study and contributes to the education of students in both Mechanical Engineering and Engineering Management study programmes.
Teaching Activities
The Department provides students with the mathematical, computational and physical foundations required for understanding, modelling and solving engineering problems. Its courses support a wide range of engineering disciplines and provide the theoretical basis for advanced professional subjects.
The main teaching areas include:
- Mathematics and applied mathematics
- Numerical mathematics and numerical methods
- Probability and statistics
- Computer science and programming
- Computational methods in engineering
- Physics
- Mathematical modelling
- Optimization methods
- Operations research
At higher levels of study, particular attention is devoted to advanced mathematical methods, numerical techniques, mathematical modelling and computational approaches used in scientific and engineering research.
Research Activities
Scientific research within the Department covers a broad range of theoretical and applied mathematical disciplines. Research activities include numerical mathematics, interval analysis, complex analysis, special functions, partial differential equations, fixed-point theory, algebra, functional analysis, algebraic geometry and optimization.
An important part of the Department's research is devoted to mathematical modelling and the application of analytical and numerical methods to engineering problems. These activities include applications of mathematics in mechanics, fluid mechanics and other areas of engineering science.
Research in physics and related fields complements these activities by providing theoretical and experimental foundations for the analysis of physical phenomena relevant to engineering applications.
Members of the Department publish their research results in international and national scientific journals, participate in scientific conferences and research projects, and cooperate with researchers from universities and scientific institutions in Serbia and abroad.
Centre for Applied Mathematics
The Centre for Applied Mathematics was established in 2004 with the aim of supporting the application of modern mathematical methods in engineering and scientific research.
Its activities include mathematical modelling of engineering problems, development and application of analytical and numerical solution methods, computer processing of research results, visualization and verification of obtained results, as well as cooperation with researchers from different engineering disciplines.
Through the Centre, mathematical knowledge and methods are directly connected with practical engineering and research problems, strengthening cooperation between fundamental and applied sciences.
Physics Laboratory
The Physics Laboratory supports practical teaching and experimental work in physics. Laboratory exercises enable students to connect theoretical concepts with experimental observation and measurement.
The laboratory supports work in areas such as mechanics, oscillations, acoustics, optics and other physical phenomena relevant to engineering education.
Academic Cooperation
The Department maintains cooperation with other departments of the Faculty, the Faculty of Sciences and Mathematics of the University of Niš, and other academic and research institutions. This cooperation supports joint research, exchange of knowledge and the application of mathematical, computational and physical methods in multidisciplinary engineering problems.