Our Mission
The Quantum Mathematics Institute exists to make advanced mathematics genuinely learnable. Most bright students leave university mathematics behind not because the ideas are too hard, but because the pathway toward them is unclear. We rebuild that pathway from the ground up: every course begins with concrete problems, motivates the abstraction that solves them, and only then states the general theorem.
We teach mathematics as a working science rather than a fixed collection of results. Proofs are read slowly, examples are computed by hand, and definitions are tested against counterexamples. Our students come from engineering, physics, computer science, finance, and teaching, and many leave with the PDE, modeling, and numerical skills they apply daily in their fields.
Institutional History
1997
- The institute is founded in Carterton by Dr. Elena Marsh and Dr. Andrew Soloway, two former university lecturers who wanted a smaller, more personal setting for upper level mathematics.
2003
- The first distance offerings begin, with printed problem sets and written feedback exchanged by post.
2011
- The Friday research seminar series opens to outside participants, linking the teaching program to active work in number theory and analysis.
2018
- The free resource library launches, publishing formula sheets, worked solutions, and past papers under an open license.
2024
- Enrollment passes one thousand students across five countries, with all core materials still available at no cost.
Facts at a Glance
| Founded | 1997 |
| Location | Carterton, 47 Alder Lane |
| Founders | Dr. Elena Marsh and Dr. Andrew Soloway |
| Director | Dr. Mei-Lin Wu |
| Enrollment | Approximately 1,200 students per term |
| Faculty | 18 teaching mathematicians and 5 research fellows |
| Accreditation | Recognized by the Council for Independent Mathematical Studies |
Our Values
- Rigor before speed. A correct proof learned slowly beats a fast shortcut that cannot be justified.
- Understanding over coverage. We teach fewer topics, deeply, and revisit earlier material as later courses demand it.
- Open access. Notes, solutions, and past papers are free; tuition covers teaching time, not the right to learn.
- Application with care. We use applied problems to motivate theory, without pretending every abstraction maps cleanly onto the real world.
From the Founding Document
We hold that mathematics is not a mountain to be climbed once, but a landscape to be inhabited. The institute will teach its students to move through that landscape with confidence, to draw their own maps, and to record honestly the places they cannot yet reach.