BSMA1001 · 4 credits · Foundation
Mathematics for
Data Science 1
Nine weeks of school algebra and calculus, rebuilt properly — and then, in week 10, the course changes subject entirely and becomes a graph theory course. Almost nobody sees it coming.
- Lectures
- 186 · 48 h
- Prerequisite
- None
- Assessed by
- 2 quizzes + end term
- Unlocks
- Maths 2, Stats 2
What this course actually asks
Not "do you know maths" — "can you read a function"Maths 1 is taught by Neelesh Upadhye of the IIT Madras mathematics department and Madhavan Mukund, the director of Chennai Mathematical Institute. That pairing tells you the shape of the course before you open a single lecture: the first nine weeks are a mathematician's rebuild of school algebra and calculus, and the last two are a computer scientist's introduction to graphs and algorithms.
The thing the course really tests is whether you can move between the four ways of holding a function: as a rule, as a table, as a graph, and as a description in words. Nearly every exam question is a translation between two of those. "Find the vertex" is graph-to-rule. "A company's profit is modelled by…" is words-to-rule. "Sketch the end behaviour" is rule-to-graph.
If you are coming from a non-maths background, this is the course that decides whether the rest of the degree feels possible. It is also the most forgiving one to over-prepare for, because everything in weeks 1–6 is available free in a dozen good places.
There is no prerequisite. Maths 2 requires it, and Statistics 2 requires it too, so it is the single most load-bearing course in the Foundation level.
The twelve weeks
Topics quoted from the official course pageThree blocks, not one course: weeks 1–6 build functions, weeks 7–9 do calculus on them, and weeks 10–11 are a different subject altogether. The highlighted week is the eligibility cut-off.
Set theory. Number system, sets and their operations, relations and functions, relations and their types, functions and their types.
Straight lines. Rectangular coordinate system, slope, parallel and perpendicular lines, representations of a line, general equations, straight-line fit.
Quadratic functions. Minima, maxima, vertex and slope; quadratic equations.
Polynomials. Addition, subtraction, multiplication and division; algorithms; graphs of polynomials — x-intercepts, multiplicities, end behaviour and turning points.
Functions, properly. Horizontal and vertical line tests, exponential functions, composite functions, inverse functions.
Logarithms. Properties, graphs, exponential equations, logarithmic equations.
Sequences and limits. Functions of one variable, limits for sequences, limits and continuity.
Derivatives. Differentiability and the derivative, tangents, critical points, local maxima and minima.
Integrals. Computing areas; the integral of a function of one variable.
Graph theory begins. Representation of graphs, breadth-first search, depth-first search, applications of BFS and DFS, directed acyclic graphs.
Graph algorithms. Longest path, transitive closure, matrix multiplication, single-source shortest paths, minimum cost spanning trees.
Revision.
Weeks 11 and 12 are a trap
Neither counts toward eligibility, so people stop after week 10 and revise. Both are in the end term — the grading document says so explicitly, and graph algorithms are the easiest marks in the paper if you have seen them once. Do them.
Week 3, made movable
The three questions the exam asks about every quadraticEvery quadratic question in Maths 1 is one of three: where is the vertex, where are the roots, and which way does it open. Drag the coefficients until you can predict all three before the graph redraws.
The one fact worth memorising: the vertex sits at x = −b / 2a, and the discriminant b² − 4ac tells you the number of real roots before you solve anything. Set a to 0 with the slider and watch what the course calls a quadratic stop being one.
How it is graded
May 2026 grading document · confirm against your course pageTwo quizzes and one end term. Your weekly assignments are worth nothing directly.
A quiz you did not attempt counts as 0, which is why the first branch exists: one strong quiz and a strong end term still gets you 90% of the available marks. If you write both quizzes, the second branch usually wins — and notice that Quiz 2 is weighted higher than Quiz 1.
The eligibility gate
To be allowed into the end term hall, both of these must hold:
- the average of your best 5 of 8 — the first seven weekly assignments plus Mock Quiz 1 — is 40/100 or more;
- you attended at least one of the two quizzes.
Mock Quiz 1 shows up in your dashboard as "Mock Assignment", which confuses people every single term.
GAA is zero, and that is not good news
Foundation used to give you free marks for weekly assignments. It does not any more. Instead, 10 marks of questions in the quizzes and end term are drawn from the assignments — so the work is still on the exam, just without the safety net.
Where the marks actually go
My read, from this course and from what people ask aboutTreating week 10 as optional
Graph theory arrives with no warning and looks like it belongs to a different degree. It is also the most self-contained block in the course: BFS and DFS can be learned properly in an evening, and the questions on them are mechanical.
Reading graphs instead of computing them
"Sketch the end behaviour", "how many turning points", "which multiplicity" — week 4 is nearly all visual reasoning. People who only practise solving equations lose these marks without knowing why.
Logarithm properties, under time pressure
Week 6 is where careless slips cost most: log(a + b) is not log a + log b, and changing base is not optional. These are one-line mistakes inside four-line questions.
Stopping the week-7 assignments once eligible
Eligibility is decided on the best 5 of your first 7 weeks. Once people clear it, weekly practice drops — and weeks 8 to 11, which carry the harder end-term questions, get the least practice of all.
Everything worth opening
Official first, then the free things that genuinely helpEvery link here was opened and checked on 23 September 2026. There are no assignment solutions on this list, and there never will be.
Official
- Course page BSMA1001 on study.iitm.ac.in The week list, the instructors, and the three downloadable volumes — Sets & Functions, Calculus, Graph Theory.
- Lectures Mathematics for Data Science 1 — full playlist All 186 official lectures in order, on the programme's own channel.
For the algebra half (weeks 1–6)
- Free book OpenStax · College Algebra Free, properly edited, and covers weeks 1–6 almost chapter for chapter. Exercises with answers.
- Practice Khan Academy · Algebra Use it for drills, not for theory. The mastery exercises are the fastest way to find the gap you actually have.
- Tool Desmos graphing calculator Type the function, add sliders for the coefficients, and watch. Weeks 3 to 6 become obvious once you have seen them move.
For the calculus half (weeks 7–9)
- Video 3Blue1Brown · Essence of calculus Watch this before week 8, not after. It gives you the picture the derivative rules are shorthand for.
- Notes Paul's Online Math Notes · Calculus I The best free worked-example set on limits, derivatives and integrals. Practice problems come with full solutions.
For the graph theory (weeks 10–11)
What to do in week one
Term starts 2 October 2026- Download the three volumesGet them off the course page on day one, before you need them. Sets & Functions covers weeks 1–6, Calculus covers 7–9, Graph Theory covers 10–11.
- Do the week 1 assignment the day it opensDeadlines never move, and the first seven weeks are the only ones that decide whether you can sit the end term.
- Find and do Mock Quiz 1It counts as one of the eight scores in your eligibility average, and it is the cheapest of the eight to score well on.
- Open Desmos alongside every lecture from week 2Plot what the lecture is describing. The course is about reading functions; reading them on a screen is the practice.
- Put weeks 10 and 11 in your calendar nowBlock real hours for graph theory in advance, so that it does not arrive as a surprise during quiz-two revision.
- Check your course page's grading sectionEverything here is from the May 2026 document. The September 2026 one was not published when this was written.