In Mexico, the development of mathematical sciences is relatively new, since the study of mathematics as a scientific discipline began in the 1930s. However, despite the short period of professional mathematical activity in our country, the results of Mexican mathematicians are recognized worldwide. It is important to mention that although the research results obtained by Mexicans meet the highest world standards of quality, the number of national professional mathematicians needs to be increased. In our country it is estimated that there are 900 research mathematicians and 3,000 in total, including all those with a degree in mathematics. This contrasts radically with the number of professional mathematicians in the United States, which is approximately 50,000 according to the AMS (http://www.ams.org/profession/career-info/math-work/math-work). The above data highlight the need to increase the number and improve the training of mathematicians, in order to remedy the deficit of these professionals in Mexico.

In this context, in 2001, the UAEH put into operation the Bachelor's Degree in Applied Mathematics, and in 2003 the creation of the Center for Research in Mathematics (CIMA) was approved, a unit in which the mathematical activity of the UAEH and the state of Hidalgo is currently developed. Since its creation, CIMA has contributed to the training of graduates in applied mathematics who currently solve problems in education and services. However, a higher level of specialization is still needed for the human resources trained in mathematics by the UAEH to contribute to the solution of highly complex problems.

In our country there are 20 institutions that offer master's degrees in mathematics, without considering the master's degrees focused on teaching or teaching mathematics, as can be seen these educational programs are distributed throughout the country from universities in the north of the country and some others in the south, but the highest concentration is in the central-western area.

Mathematics is used as a resource through which scientists are given the task of solving problems whose origin is located, most of the time, in concrete scenarios of nature. The following are some fields and examples where mathematicians find a source of problems in which they can apply their knowledge.

1. Biology: study of population growth and distribution, propagation of pests and diseases, design of algorithms for the analysis and classification of data of diverse origin (e.g. microarray type), study of the human genome as well as that of other species, identification of genes causing hereditary diseases, automatic text classification, search of information on the World Wide Web, design of algorithms for use in the analysis of tomography images, design of devices to improve the balance and locomotion of elderly people, etc.


2. Economics: analysis, understanding and prediction of the dynamics of stock markets through the use of mathematical models that are adapted to the observations of their behavior, study and design of voting systems, etc.


3. Physics: statistical mechanics (modeling of systems with many particles), classical mechanics (study of mechanical systems with several degrees of freedom), astronomy (study of the motion of celestial bodies, study of cosmic radiation), cosmology (origin and fate of the universe, black holes), study of the unification theories of the four fundamental forces of the universe (string theory, M-theory), study of fluid physics (analysis of the Navier-Stokes equations), etc.


4. Engineering: mechanical (description of mechanical systems through the appropriate choice of independent variables), aerospace (design of trajectories for aircraft, rockets, satellites and shuttles), electrical (control and stability of systems, design of filters for signal analysis), industrial (optimal control), etc.


5. Chemistry: study of reactive-product systems, crystals and quasi-crystals, etc.

Based on the above, the Institute of Basic Sciences and Engineering offers the Master's Degree in Mathematics since 2014, being recognized as an educational program in PNPC since that same year.