Importance of mathematical modelling skills in engineering education for master and doctoral students of Latvia University of Agriculture

When engineering students come to problem solving in their scientific research at master or doctoral level, mathematical modelling and simulations are very often used as a fundamental method or as complement of their work. They need to be able to connect mathematical concepts with their research problems from such fields as computer science, engineering, biology, etc. In this work results of a research is discussed that was conducted among master and doctoral students of Latvia University of Agriculture faculty of Information technology (LUA IT). The aim of this study was to find out about students' attitude towards mathematics usability and importance of mathematical modelling skills. Also one of the objectives of this research was to identify the benefits and challenges of using mathematical modelling in study process at LUA IT.