Mathematical Modeling

Harvard Extension School

MATH E-116

Section 1

CRN 26846

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Mathematical models are ubiquitous, providing a quantitative framework for understanding, prediction, and decision-making in nearly every aspect of life, ranging from the timing of traffic lights, to the control of the spread of disease, to resource management, to sports. They also play a fundamental role in all natural sciences and increasingly in the social sciences as well. This course provides an introduction to modeling through in-depth discussions of a series of examples and hands-on exercises and projects that make use of a range of continuous and discrete mathematical tools. Students may not take both APMA E-115 (offered previously) and MATH E-116 for degree or certificate credit.

Registration Closes: January 22, 2026
Credits: 4

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Term

Spring Term 2026

Part of Term

Full Term

Format

Online

Credit Status

Graduate, Noncredit, Undergraduate

Section Status

Open

Instructor Info

Zhiming Kuang, PhD

Gordon McKay Professor of Atmospheric and Environmental Science, Harvard University


Meeting Info

1/26 to 5/16

Participation Option: Online Asynchronous

In online asynchronous courses, you are not required to attend class at a particular time. Instead you can complete the course work on your own schedule each week.

Deadlines

Last day to register: January 22, 2026

Additional Time Commitments

Optional sections to be arranged.

Prerequisites

MATH E-21a and MATH E-21b or permission of instructor. Knowledge of some programming language is helpful, but not necessary, as we introduce Matlab to those with no previous experience. Students must have Matlab installed on their computers. Students proficient in Python are welcome to use that language instead of Matlab.

Notes

The recorded lectures are from the Harvard Faculty of Arts and Sciences companion course Applied Mathematics 115. Registered students can ordinarily live stream the lectures Tuesdays and Thursdays, 10:30-11:45 pm starting January 27 or they can watch them on demand. The recorded sessions are typically available within a few hours of the end of class and no later than the following business day. Class sessions for this course may include students enrolled in the FAS companion course. Accordingly, when you participate in live class sessions, you will do so alongside both Division of Continuing Education (DCE) and FAS students. If you participate in a way that causes you to appear in recordings of the class, those recordings may be shown to DCE students enrolled in this course or FAS students enrolled in the companion course, according to the policies of the two schools on accessing recordings of class sessions.

Tuition

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All Sections of this Course

CRN Section # Participation Option(s) Instructor Section Status Meets Term Dates
26846 1 Online Asynchronous Zhiming Kuang Open Jan 26 to May 16
35921 1 On Campus Zhiming Kuang Open TTh 12:00pm - 3:00pm
 Jun 23 to Aug 8

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