Maths support at Maths Cafe

If you are stuck on an assignment, an online test question or any other form of coursework, we can offer help to aid your understanding of the material assessed in this coursework, but not the coursework itself. For example, we can work with you through a similar example but not the exact question given in your assignment or coursework. So it is very useful if you remember to bring along your lecture notes when you come to see us.

Please remember that any assessed material needs to be your own work. We hope you understand that Maths Café is also not able to comment on what mark you might expect to receive for your work.

When working on your final year project, you might encounter concepts or material relating to mathematics or statistics. If this is the case and you need some guidance, Maths Café may be able to help.

Please note, however, that final year projects are part of your assessment, so the work on your project has to be your own. Our aim would be, for example, to explain a mathematical or statistical concept in relation to elements of your project, and not to do the work for you. We are also not the ones to verify the correctness of your work; your project supervisor will be able to advise you on that.

If you would like to seek support in relation to your final year project, we recommend you see us early in the year (for example, it is best to pop in before you gather the data you need for analysis, as we can help you make sure that the data you will look for is good, relevant, and complete). If you come to see us towards the end of your project, please consider that our tutors may not have the time to read through large chunks of your project, literature or data; our tutors have to divide their time among all students who come to a drop-in session.

At Maths Café, we have a dedicated statistics session which is clearly marked on our timetable. You can find the most up-to-date timetable on our Moodle and our Facebook pages. If you have an advanced statistics question, please make sure to attend this session, otherwise you can visit any of our drop-in sessions.

As a rule of thumb, if you are in second year or above, you should attend the dedicated statistics session.

It is also worth remembering that Schools and Departments whose courses have a large statistics component, offer statistics support for their own students. This ranges from departmental/school drop-in sessions to video tutorials and specialist tutors (examples are psychology, sport and exercise science, pharmacy and biomedical sciences, criminal justice studies, and others.)

If you are a postgraduate student looking to develop your statistics skills, need help with research and survey design, quantitative methods, SPSS, NVivo, R software or similar, we suggest that you visit the Graduate School which offers a range of workshops aimed specifically at research students at the University of Portsmouth.

Like any other student, distance learners are welcome to use the online resources on our Moodle pages. If you are able to visit the campus, you are welcome to come to our drop-in sessions and workshops. If you cannot visit us in person and you think we might be able to help with your query, you can contact us via email: mathscafe@port.ac.uk and include your student number in the message.

Sometimes, PhD students in non-mathematical disciplines are required to do some mathematics as part of their research and may require some help with things such as:

• measuring and recording information,
• figuring out areas,
• graphing or otherwise representing data,
• figuring out the probability of an event,
• understanding mathematical notation or formulae,
• finding relevant literature or resources,
• brushing up on a particular mathematical concepts and other problems of mathematical or statistical nature.

If you think that Maths Café might be able to help, please come and see us at our drop-in sessions, or briefly explain the nature of your mathematical problem in an email and we will let you know if we can help.

If you need help with research and survey design, quantitative methods, SPSS, NVivo, R software or similar, we suggest that you visit the Doctoral College which offers a range of workshops aimed specifically at research students at the University of Portsmouth.

If your research includes a considerable mathematical or statistical element and your PhD supervisor(s) are not able to help, then you may be looking for a research consultation or collaboration instead of Maths Café help. If you think that might be the case, talk to your supervisor(s) about approaching the Doctoral College for help, or emailing the Maths Department.

Yes, ICP students are welcome at our drop-in sessions and workshops. You can find the most up-to-date timetable on our Moodle and our Facebook pages.

You should note, however, that our opening times are based on the University of Portsmouth term dates which may differ from the ICP. However, you can use our online resources on Moodle at any time.

Yes, you can. Maths Café is open to all students regardless of their course of study. In fact, the majority of students visiting Maths Café are studying courses other than Mathematics - for example Engineering, Science, Business and other courses.

At Maths Café, we run daily drop-in sessions throughout the term-time and in the run-up to exams. You can find the most up-to-date timetable on our Moodle and our Facebook pages. We are closed during Christmas, Easter and Summer vacation periods. However, students can always access Maths Café online resources via Moodle, our Virtual Learning Environment.

Please note that some Faculties at our University have Support Tutors that can help you with Mathematics or Statistics, and are available in the vacation period as well. If you are not sure about the Support Tutors available to you, please contact the admin office in your School/Department for more information.

Maths Café tutors are academics in the School of Mathematics and Physics, Mathematics support tutors, and postgraduate students in Mathematics and related disciplines. We enjoy solving mathematical problems, sharing our knowledge and experience, and working with students from all parts of the University.