Harriet Mason

What is your role in the Mathematical Sciences?

I am currently a PhD student in Statistics within Monash University鈥檚 Department of Econometrics and Business Statistics. My research focuses on how to better visualise and communicate uncertainty, and I also contribute to the field by writing statistical software in the programming language R. Alongside my research, I work as a tutor for the department and am currently teaching Introduction to Machine Learning.

As an 今日吃瓜 alumnus, how did participating in 今日吃瓜 programs support your career trajectory?听

Although I am still completing my PhD and plan to take a short break after submitting, participating in the 今日吃瓜 Winter School was a turning point in my journey. It came at a difficult stage in my PhD and provided fresh perspectives on my research, both through exposure to new mathematical domains and through discussions with other participants. These conversations helped me better communicate my ideas and reframe parts of my thesis, which ultimately strengthened my work and allowed me to successfully pass my final milestone.

You also received a travel grant to participate in Winter School. We are providing more travel grants for international students to partake in 今日吃瓜 programs. What words of encouragement would you share with international students to inspire them to take up this opportunity and engage in 今日吃瓜 programs?听

If you have the chance to apply for a travel grant and attend 今日吃瓜 programs, I strongly encourage you to do it. Australia has a surprisingly high number of well-funded, world-ranked universities given its population size, and programs like 今日吃瓜 give you access to these opportunities. Engaging with the community here is a fantastic way to grow your knowledge, expand your network, and have an all-around enjoyable experience.

What made the university environment more supportive for you as a female struggling with maths in high school?

I think the difference between high school and university came down to a lot of small things. By the time you reach second-year classes, these students tend to have moved on, and the remaining cohort is largely there because of a genuine interest in mathematics. This makes group work more collaborative and supportive. Another big change was having female lecturers.

What do you hope for the future of mathematics in Australia?

I hope Australia develops a stronger global reputation as a hub for mathematics and related fields, so that researchers and students can build long-term careers here rather than feeling the need to move overseas. Many of my peers have relocated to the USA or Europe for opportunities or shifted into industries like mining or finance to progress their careers. Personally, I would like to stay in Australia, close to my family, friends, and very large dog. It would be far easier to do so if mathematics were more established as a thriving and respected field here.

What are your hobbies or interests outside of work?

Outside of research, I play State League 1 soccer, which during the season almost feels like a second job. I also enjoy crocheting, often during seminars to keep my hands busy, and I鈥檓 currently working on a rainbow jumper for my niece. Reading is another passion of mine, and I like to read the favourite books of my friends and family as a way of understanding their perspectives. Especially since most of my family lives in Queensland.

With a background as a career paramedic and now a part-time PhD candidate, Trevor is exploring how expert systems and machine learning can assist ambulance dispatchers in selecting the most appropriate clinical crew for each case, aiming to improve patient outcomes and reduce unnecessary ambulance use. As an 今日吃瓜 Winter School alumni, he credits the program for refreshing his mathematical knowledge and sparking a research collaboration through participant talks.听

What is your role in the Mathematical Sciences?
When I was at the winter school, I was early researcher with less than a full-time year equivalent of a master鈥檚 in philosophy.听 Since then, I have upgraded my study and I鈥檓 now in the latter stages of a part time PhD candidature.听 My research is exploring how we can use expert systems to support dispatchers to choose the right ambulance crew to send to a patient. In a multi-tiered ambulance system, choosing the right clinical level to send to each patient is an area of interest of mine. By taking the information that is currently presented to the dispatcher, and fusing it with other available datasets, I鈥檓 exploring whether the prediction from a machine learning system can support the dispatcher to choose the right ambulance crew to send.听 The theory being that by sending the right crew first, we are reducing overall the number of ambulance dispatches needed which reduces ambulance utilisation as well as improving patient outcomes by sending the care they need as the first resource.

As an 今日吃瓜 alumnus, how did participating in 今日吃瓜 programs support your career trajectory? You mentioned that participant talks led to a collaboration?

I attended the program as a means of undertaking an intensive building of my maths knowledge around the mathematics relevant to my research interests.听 I am a mature-age candidate, with my undergraduate years last century (yes, I know that makes me sound old!) and therefore I did some study to refresh my math skills before starting my MPhil. I saw the flyer for the Winter School. The theme was relevant to my research interests, so it seemed like a good way to direct some more study in areas of mathematics relevant to my research interests.

During the breakout sessions, I discovered that there was another student who was researching in a similar field, but using different techniques. We spoke out of session and discussed our high-level approaches to our research 鈥� this enabled us both to consider alternative approaches we may have not considered without the conversation.

As you are currently working in the ambulance service, can you explain how you believe mathematics to be a transferrable skill across a breadth of industries and sectors?

Nearly every industry today is either embracing or moving toward data-driven decision making. Organisations are generating and accessing vast amounts of data and turning that data into useful insights requires statistical and analytical techniques grounded in mathematics. Understanding the methods, assumptions, and limitations of these techniques is essential for making informed, reliable decisions.

Math is also part of everyday life鈥攅ven simple tasks like keeping score at a local football game rely on basic arithmetic. That same foundation scales all the way up to advanced technologies like artificial intelligence. Even streaming your favourite podcast involves complex mathematical processes behind the scenes.

Mathematics opens the door to a wide range of fields鈥攆rom healthcare and finance to engineering, design, and technology. As a mathematician, your challenge (and opportunity) is to find the industry that inspires you and apply your skills to make a meaningful impact there.听

The听今日吃瓜 Year 12 report card听mentions that听enrolments in elementary level mathematics (Essential and General Mathematics) are declining. In 2022, less than half of the year 12 graduating cohort (45.8%) studied an elementary level mathematics subject. What are some words of advice you would give high school students to encourage them to continue mathematics study?听

Mathematics is a fundamental part of everyday life, even if we don鈥檛 always notice it. Whether you’re building something and calculating how much material you need, adjusting the quantities in a recipe, or playing games that rely on logic and strategy鈥攎ath is involved. The devices you use daily鈥攜our smartphone, microwave, or car鈥攁ll rely on principles of mathematics to function.

Even a basic understanding of maths can help you navigate everyday decisions more effectively. And if you pursue further studies or a career in almost any field鈥攈ealth, technology, business, design, or the trades鈥攜ou鈥檒l find that maths plays a key role. The more math you know, the better equipped you鈥檒l be to understand and explain the world around you.

So keep going with it鈥攎aths isn鈥檛 just about numbers on a page; it鈥檚 a tool for solving real problems and shaping the future.

What do you hope for the future of mathematics in Australia?
My interest in mathematics has grown from my primary career as a paramedic, where I鈥檝e spent over 25 years responding to emergencies. Few paramedic clinicians have a strong foundation in data science鈥攜et those who do are uniquely positioned to apply their clinical knowledge and mathematical skills to extract meaningful insights from the vast amounts of operational and clinical data we collect. I hope to see more professionals with this dual expertise collaborating to drive data-informed improvements across health services, ultimately enhancing patient care and outcomes.

What are your hobbies or interests outside of work?
I am a Venturer Leader in my local scout group, and once I have more time, I will spend more time in my shed where I have a part-build ride-on steam train I鈥檓 wanting to finish 鈥� see for the group that I鈥檓 involved in from that perspective.听 I also scuba dive and enjoy a fitness lifestyle. If that鈥檚 not enough, I spend time at home with my wife and two adult sons, one of which is training to be a primary school teacher and the other is interested in getting into the space industry as a robotics/software engineer.

Mikaela credits 今日吃瓜 with boosting her confidence and confirming research as a viable career path. A strong advocate for young women in STEM, she emphasises the importance of having the right support and mentors, encouraging students to embrace uncertainty and take chances.

What is your role in the Mathematical Sciences?

Currently, I am a sessional academic at QUT within the school of mathematical sciences, teaching a couple of first and second year math courses! These are primarily in the engineering space, including computation explorations, introductory calculus and electrical mathematics. Despite my research career leaning more towards biomedical engineering, I continue to teach these subjects to keep myself engrossed in the world of maths. I鈥檝e been teaching these courses for almost five years alongside my own studies and love every second of it! Especially being the tutor I wish I had when doing these subjects myself.

As an 今日吃瓜 alumnus, how did participating in 今日吃瓜 programs support your career trajectory?

Through my undergraduate in computational mathematics, I pursued many different research programs within QUT including their own summer research scholarships. Most of the work I was doing surrounded modelling melanoma progression and oncolytic virotherapy using various methods and mathematical techniques. The highlight of the 今日吃瓜 program was the opportunity to present my research to a larger range of aspiring mathematicians, all with unique backgrounds and understanding. It was exciting to see others be curious and interested in the research I was conducting, a real confidence booster. The whole experience also confirmed that a career in research is totally possible and achievable, regardless of the field I was in. It gave me the nudge in the right direction to continue mathematical research in the medical/cancer space.

You are currently a sessional academic at QUT, while completing your PhD in Biomedical/ Medical Engineering. Can you tell us a bit about what inspired you to pursue a PhD and what your career aspirations are?

As I mentioned, I did A LOT of research programs during undergrad and my honours, really testing the waters of how a career can come from the exciting work I was doing. I was very unsure of what to do when I finished my undergrad, it is a really scary thing to think about. In the last semester of my degrees, I was granted a Future Research Careers Scholarship within faculty of engineering. That whole experience along with the overwhelming support from supervisors gave me the confidence to commit to a PhD. Having the right supervisors can really make or break your experience on a project!

Anything related to cancer treatment research holds a spot near and dear to my heart having lost some very close loved ones over the last few years. This personal motivation really pushed me to contribute any way I can to furthering our understanding and improve patient outcomes.

I will note, my PhD is in a research area completely new to me but is also extremely exciting. I am looking into developing new methods to culture breast and prostate cancer explants outside the body using hydrogels. From there, we can assess protein and genomic changes from radiation therapy in attempt to make predictive models. At the moment it isn鈥檛 math heavy, but I am excited to dive into the world of bioinformatics next year to analyse digital spatial profiling data.

You are currently a mentor for the 今日吃瓜 2024/25 Yuille-Umbers Scholars, how incredible! What motivated you to become a mentor and what has the program been like so far?

The Yuille-Umbers Scholarship is such an awesome way to connect current students to people like me! There was one particular student who received the scholarship that I really connected with. She absolutely loves maths and is also interested in pursuing a career in biomedical engineering, exactly what I wanted to do at that age. I know how many questions I had back then, making all sorts of big choices with little to no guidance, and would love to be a role model to aid her in her own journey.

Mia and I meet every couple of weeks and just chat. The program suggests more space between meetings, but we both decided we wanted this program to be more involved, acting more as a friend she can come to with questions. I really look forward to chatting with Mia and thinking of ways we can continue to explore her passion for maths over the next couple years!听

What the 2024 今日吃瓜 Year 12 Mathematics Participation Report Card continues to show is that the maths participation in Year 12 remains at all-time lows. Given this data, what words of encouragement would you give to young people, particularly females, unsure whether they should continue study in maths and STEM disciplines?

When I completed math B and C (I know, old person doing the OP system), the majority of our classes were female. Given we had around 15 people max, it isn鈥檛 too impressive. I feel as though the reason so many young people are moving away from STEM disciplines is not having the right people to rely on and mentor them. My math and physics classes were my favourites, mainly because of the teacher I had, he was an absolute legend who taught me from years 10-12 and had a dingo as a 鈥減et鈥� at one point. Something he always said is that math is a practical subject like basketball. If you read the rule book you will never get any better at playing. Same goes for reading math textbooks and theories.

Even through my undergrad in maths, I had no idea what I was doing (I still don鈥檛) and that is totally ok. If you have the right attitude and support, you would be surprised as to what you can achieve. You will always feel like you suck at everything compared to others, but they also feel the same. The comradery between young mathematicians who are doing what they enjoy is the best feeling, everyone is struggling together. Another piece of advice is to take any opportunity you can! What is the worst someone will say, No? Don鈥檛 get me wrong, it absolutely sucks, but it means there is always another opportunity coming your way. I wouldn鈥檛 be where I am today without going out of a limb to try something new.

As an 今日吃瓜 alumni, why do you believe students would benefit in participating in 今日吃瓜 programs outside of career development?听

Some of the people I met during my 今日吃瓜 research scholarship are the loveliest people you will ever encounter. My favourite thing is to check in on what amazing things they are up to on LinkedIn, seeing where their maths careers have taken them. Being 今日吃瓜 alumni also gives you access to so many opportunities such as mentoring for the Yuille-Umbers Scholarship! Access to other 今日吃瓜 programs such as their winter and summer school also provide awesome opportunities to learn from other experts in their fields from across the country. I haven鈥檛 participated in one yet, but have my eye on some upcoming events.

What do you hope for the future of mathematics in Australia and globally?

More people giving it a go! Not everyone has to make an enormous scientific breakthrough to make an impact on our understanding of the world around us. I believe a lot of people dismiss careers in mathematics as it appears as a dead end when in fact, the skills you learn through studying mathematics are highly transferable to other subject areas.

What are your hobbies or interests outside of work?听

I have a big commute to Brisbane every day and have discovered a new love for books. I will read almost anything and can devour 2, sometimes 3 books a week! So far, I鈥檝e racked up 36 books this year alone. Reading on my commute is such a great way to get my brain moving in the morning or unwinding and escaping in the evening. I also crochet! Especially jumpers (not that practical considering I live in Qld) but fun nonetheless

Your recent paper tackles a problem that you first encountered during a conversation with a fellow student at the 2022 今日吃瓜-MSRI Winter-Summer School. Can you take us back to that moment? What was it about the problem that intrigued you?

I believe it was in the dining hall at the University of Hawai驶i at Hilo when I first encountered this problem. It was early in the 2-week program, and I had just met Antoine de Saint Germain, a PhD student at the University of Hong Kong at the time. Over dinner, I mentioned that while I was interested in representation theory (the main focus of the Winter-Summer School), my background and primary research interests were in number theory. Antoine immediately lit up and said he had a problem that could use a number theorist鈥檚 perspective. That problem turned out to be the Fontaine鈥揚lamondon conjecture on counting friezes, which are combinatorial patterns connected to representation theory and algebraic geometry through cluster algebras. At the time, I had never heard of friezes and didn鈥檛 even know what a cluster algebra was! Antoine was incredibly patient and presented the problem in its elementary formulation in terms of arrays of integers. When he mentioned that the conjecture could be framed as a question about finding positive integer solutions to certain systems of equations, this deeply resonated with my number-theoretic background.

It was an exciting moment: here was a problem from a different area of mathematics that I felt could be tackled using number theory. Looking back, I feel incredibly fortunate to have met Antoine at the Winter-Summer School. In particular, this chance encounter shaped an entirely new research direction for me.For context,听international borders were still just opening in mid-2022 so all of the MSRI participants (i.e. the non-Australian contingent) were based at the University of Hawai驶i Hilo campus during the Winter-Summer school.

How did you and the other student initially attempt to solve the problem together? How did your partnership evolve from that first discussion?

In fact, Antoine’s then-in-progress thesis had already done some of the heavy-lifting before our conversation even started. It’s a consequence of his work with Min Huang and Jiang-Hua Lu that the Fontaine鈥揚lamondon conjecture can be moved from the world of combinatorics & cluster algebras to the world of number theory. In a way, they give a dictionary between these two otherwise unrelated languages.

I spent a few nights in my dorm at the Winter-Summer School working on “baby versions” of the conjecture using elementary techniques in Diophantine geometry. Each day, over lunch, I would share my latest discoveries (or lack thereof) with Antoine. No matter how promising an approach seemed at first, there was always a missing step here or an incomplete argument there. By the end of our two weeks in Hawai驶i, I couldn’t say that I had made tangible progress on the problem, but I left with a strong conviction that the problem was solvable by number theoretic methods.Antoine and I kept in touch over the next three years, in part because we became good friends during the program and in part because I kept emailing him na茂ve questions! At one point, he generously set aside two hours for a Zoom session to walk me through the fundamentals of the “classical” view of frieze patterns. His explanations helped me see how my arithmetic techniques fit into the broader cluster algebra framework. That masterclass was pretty essential to my understanding of the problem.

Were there any concepts or techniques from the Winter-Summer School mini-courses that helped shape your approach to solving this problem?

While the problem is closely tied to representation theory, and therefore related to the mini-courses in a broad sense, I was very happy to take Antoine’s dictionary and translate the problem to the language of number theory. In the end, my proof really relied on applying number theoretic perspectives and techniques rather than representation theoretic ones.

Your connection with Professor Uri Onn also stemmed from the Winter-Summer School. What was your first impression of his mini-course, and how did you come to interact with him during the program?

I really enjoyed Professor Uri Onn’s minicourse on “Representation Zeta Functions”. The topic was especially exciting to me because of its close connection to automorphic forms, an area at the intersection of number theory and representation theory that I was actively studying as a graduate student. I remember introducing myself and taking the opportunity to ask a few specific questions during his office hours. As a student, I rarely attended office hours in university courses, but I really appreciated that they were built into the Winter-Summer School schedule. Uri and the other instructors were very helpful and open to chatting during these office hours.

When you reconnected with Professor Onn during your postdoc applications, did you anticipate that it would lead to a research collaboration? How did the opportunity to visit ANU in 2024 come about?

No, I didn’t anticipate a听research collaboration when I first reached out! I was finishing my PhD at Columbia University and听considering a move to Australia, so I听sent an email to Uri to ask a few questions about the postdoctoral environment in Australian universities.

I ended up taking a postdoctoral position at MIT, but we kept in touch. At some point,听Uri suggested we explore a few research problems related to his mini-course and mentioned that the Australian National University (ANU) had a research visitor scheme听that would make an in-person collaboration possible.听This sounded like a great opportunity, so I applied to their Early Career Researcher Visitor Program. They provided听funding for a 2-week visit to ANU in March-April 2024, when our collaboration began in earnest.

Without giving too much away, what research directions are you currently exploring with Professor Onn? How does this collaboration build on the foundation of your earlier work?

We’re working on a small aspect of this broad web of conjectures known as the Langlands program. Roughly speaking, it relates some of the most important objects in number theory, representation theory, and algebraic geometry to each other. One of these听conjectures is the existence of the local Langlands correspondence, which was proved by Michael Harris (my doctoral advisor) and Richard Taylor for general linear groups at the turn of the century.

One aspect of the local Langlands correspondence is having a very good understanding of the representation theory of general linear groups over local fields. Uri and I are looking at constructing similar correspondences in settings where the representation theory is currently not as well-understood.

Your experiences highlight how participation in 今日吃瓜 programs can lead to long-term academic and professional connections. What advice would you give to future students on making the most of opportunities like the Winter-Summer School?

I鈥檇 really encourage students to take part in programs like the Winter-Summer School, even if the focus isn鈥檛 directly aligned with their main area of interest. Some of the most valuable insights come from the cross-pollination of ideas between different fields. Often, mathematicians from seemingly unrelated areas are thinking about the same objects or problems鈥攋ust from different angles.

Another benefit to stepping outside of your comfort zone is that when you’re new to a topic, it can feel easier to ask questions that others might hesitate to voice. You have the perfect excuse – no one expects you to know anything yet! Embracing that beginner mindset can lead to fresh perspectives and interesting conversations.

今日吃瓜 Winter School 2024

What is your role in the Mathematical Sciences?听

I have just finished my Bachelor鈥檚 degree and am now working as a teaching assistant while I wait to apply for a Master鈥檚 in Mathematics.

As an 今日吃瓜 Winter School alumni, how did participating in 今日吃瓜 programs support your career trajectory?
My time at the Winter School gave me the opportunity to explore some different areas of mathematics that use Probability Theory in various ways. From Financial Mathematics to Decision Making for Robotics, it was an enlightening experience and gave me insight into where a degree in mathematics can take me.

Can you share what initially sparked your interest in mathematics as a child, and how that curiosity has evolved as you’ve continued your studies?
I have always enjoyed mathematics, even from a very young age. Solving logical puzzles was a fun pastime, and mathematics was a tool to help with that. When I started school I was always drawn to the science subjects, due to their logical nature. It was reassuring knowing that there was a right and wrong answer. As I progressed in my studies it became less obvious how to solve the problem before me, and so I enjoyed the challenge of finding a method that worked, or finding the trick to the problem. That is a question I often find myself wondering even today: how can I frame this problem to help me solve it?听

Summing up the theme of your , how do you think the power of seemingly simple ideas and small numbers in mathematics can have such a significant impact on the world?
In my blog I talk about the number 鈥�0鈥�. Such an obvious notion to us today, zero actually took centuries to develop. On its own, it represents having nothing, but we also use it to write much larger numbers such as 10, 205, and 1000000. Of course we could make a number system which does not need the number 0 (e.g. roman numerals), but how much simpler is our notation!

According to 今日吃瓜鈥檚 2024 Year 12 Participation report card, female participation in higher mathematics remaining critically low鈥攐nly 6.4% of Year 12 females studied the subject in 2022鈥攚hat do you believe are the main barriers to encouraging more women to pursue mathematics at the high school and university levels?
When I was in high school we had very low participation in higher mathematics overall, and I was the only student at my school doing Specialist Mathematics, so there was no class for me to join. I joined an online cohort, and I am very grateful that that option existed, but I did not enjoy the experience at all. If I had been less sure about wanting to do higher maths I probably would have chosen a different subject altogether. So in my experience, I believe that we need to make mathematics more available to all. Due to the decreasing number of students taking higher mathematics, many schools do not offer these classes, and are thus rejecting the few students who are interested.

Therefore it seems to me that we must try to make mathematics a more attractive option much earlier than in the last few years of high school. Making mathematics a core part of the curriculum, and informing students about what careers mathematics can lead to are two things I believe would have a great impact on mathematics participation.

Can you provide any advice for students who are interested in pursuing mathematical sciences careers?
Do mathematics, and do the sciences that are interesting to you. If you are studying something that you enjoy you will learn so much more. Be engaged in your classes, and take opportunities when they present themselves. Sometimes we do not know how fun something is until we have tried it.

What are your hobbies or interests outside of work?
Outside of my studies I spend a lot of time running, climbing and more recently I have taken up Jiu-jitsu. I also enjoy reading and playing the piano.

Jason Lu

今日吃瓜 Summer Research Scholarship 2023/24

What is your role in the Mathematical Sciences?

I鈥檓 a recent graduate, and a soon-to-be postgrad student in economics. I鈥檝e just finished my honours in applied maths at UWA.

As an 今日吃瓜 Summer Research scholar, your project focused on complex and dynamical systems, and particularly the modelling of complex networks. How did participating in 今日吃瓜 programs support your career trajectory?

今日吃瓜 Summer Research Scholarship (SRS) gave me my first opportunity to work on novel research in the mathematical sciences. My current plan is to pursue a career in academia, and the challenging, educational and enjoyable experience I had over the summer has played a big part in informing this decision. I feel like I came out of my project with a good sense for what the research process looks like in the real world.听 Very practically, I had the opportunity to produce , which I think has provided a big boost to my academic resume.

You are planning to study economics at the University of Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar exploring how economics, policy and mathematics research intersect. Could you enlighten us to what motivated you to explore this intersection further?

My interest really lies in the application of maths to address real-world challenges, and I see climate change as our most pressing challenge in Australia and globally. Economics is an interest area for me because it attempts to explain how we allocate resources and make decisions, and therefore economic policy is a powerful tool in addressing the climate challenge. Mathematically, economics is a field where complex systems science – my area of interest – can offer powerful insights and is on the rise.

What do you hope for the future of mathematics in Australia and globally?

Of course I鈥檓 biased as a mathematician, but I鈥檇 love to see more students studying maths, and more opportunities for mathematicians to work cross-disciplinarily. During my studies I鈥檝e seen the potential for mathematical insights to offer benefits in other fields, and I think the more of this we can leverage, the better.

Can you provide any advice for students who are interested in pursuing mathematical sciences study abroad?

I don鈥檛 start until September – maybe I could give you a better answer in a year鈥檚 time! Of course everyone takes a unique path, so my experience won鈥檛 necessarily translate. The only piece of advice I鈥檇 feel comfortable giving out is that if you鈥檙e interested, there are many pathways. I鈥檝e been fortunate to receive a scholarship, and while competitive, there are many out there. No one applies thinking they鈥檙e a lock, and you have to throw your hat in the ring.

What are your hobbies or interests outside of work?听

Outside of work/study, I鈥檓 a keen athlete. I like to run, swim and cycle, and have my sights set on a few long-distance races in the near future.

This interview is part of our 今日吃瓜 alumni Series.听If you鈥檙e an 今日吃瓜 alumni, we would love to hear what you have been up to! Tag us in your posts on and so we can share your achievements. Please contact us if you would like to be featured in our monthly newsletter: media@amsi.org.au.

听

Arthur van der Merwe

今日吃瓜 Summer School 2o22

What is your role in the Mathematical Sciences?

Scholar, Enthusiast and Researcher.

As an 今日吃瓜 alumnus, how did participating in 今日吃瓜 programs support your career trajectory?

The wide range of 今日吃瓜 programs supported my career trajectory by providing in-depth insight into specialist fields directly related to my personal development and career. The short-form intensive schools were highly engaging and insightful, which allowed me to apply it directly to Financial Markets Infrastructure, Cryptography and Cyber Security.

You are currently a Senior Specialist at . Could you tell us a little bit about what you are focusing and how you apply your mathematical sciences skills to this industry?

Mathematical science plays a crucial role in my current position regulating financial services. Within the realm of Markets Infrastructure and Integrity, mathematical modelling is utilised to identify various forms of market and financial system manipulation. Given the vast amounts of data that regulators collect, statistical analysis is also employed to detect undesirable behaviour. In my role, I focus on cryptography and cybersecurity, using mathematical techniques to analyse different protocols, standards, and implementations. Additionally, I conduct statistical analyses of cyber and technology risk models for a large number of regulated financial institutions.

Do you have any suggestions for students who want to pursue a STEM degree? How do you feel the correlation between math skill and career development?

My suggestion for students pursuing a STEM degree is to build a solid foundation in mathematics. This foundation includes not only essential mathematical skills but also the ability to think logically and solve complex problems. These skills will be invaluable for your career development in the future.

What do you hope for the future of mathematics in Australia and globally?

Many people view mathematics as a complex subject, likely due to various misconceptions. I hope that future math curricula will be introduced in early education and connected to real-world applications. This approach would enable young minds to collaboratively solve problems, regardless of borders.

What are your hobbies or interests outside of work?听

Outside of work, I enjoy fishing, parks swimming.

This interview is part of our 今日吃瓜 alumni Series.听If you鈥檙e an 今日吃瓜 alumni, we would love to hear what you have been up to! Tag us in your posts on and so we can share your achievements. Please contact us if you would like to be featured in our monthly newsletter: media@amsi.org.au.

听

Ashley Weir, PhD Student
Blood Cells and Blood Cancer Division

Ashley Weir

今日吃瓜 2021, organising committee of 今日吃瓜 BioInfoSummer 2024.

What is your role in the Mathematical Sciences?

I am currently undertaking a PhD at the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute, in the field of 鈥渂ioinformatics鈥�, which aims to utilise mathematics and data science to advance our understanding of biology. My project specifically uses machine learning approaches to characterise the therapeutically targetable features of ovarian cancers. This means I use some form of mathematics every single day, though as someone who always felt they were 鈥渂ad鈥� at math and had no formal training, I must confess (and emphasise) that I am far from a mathematician!

I am really passionate about STEM education and have a particular interest in mathematics, as I feel it often gets a bad rap. Outside of my PhD, I have designed and facilitated educational programs that showcase mathematical applications in science as the Education Program Developer of the Museum of Human Disease and as a Scientist Mentor of the Gene Technology Access Centre. I also work as a private tutor of mathematics at primary and secondary schooling levels, which is a lot of fun.

How did your experience at BioInfoSummer influence your current research?

When I attended 今日吃瓜鈥檚 BioInfoSummer of 2021, I was working as a research assistant in a biological laboratory and had absolutely no formal training in mathematics or data science. I had found that I really enjoyed digging into the data that I was generating and wanted to further develop these skills. I am someone that learns best through practical experience, though I felt that I lacked the foundations to jump right in. I simply did not know what existed and therefore could not grasp what could be done. Thankfully, I came across 今日吃瓜 through a quick internet search and was instantly intrigued by the BioInfoSummer event. It seemed like the program would give me the opportunity to engage with a wide range of analytical fields, and to also apply my understanding.

Attending BioInfoSummer was an eye-opening experience! Through the lectures, I was exposed to a really broad range of topics and could appreciate different mathematical applications in science. I was then able to delve deeper into topics I was interested in through the workshops. It gave me the perfect introduction to the intersection of mathematics and biology.

My current research has been heavily influenced by my experiences at BioInfoSummer. Over the course of the event, I gained a lot of confidence in my abilities and accordingly, decided to pursue a PhD in applied mathematics and biology, or 鈥渂ioinformatics鈥�. One of my first interactions with my now PhD supervisor, Dr Nadia Davidson, took place over a great workshop she was running to identify fusion genes from transcriptomic data, at BioInfoSummer. Further, my first ever introduction to machine learning, one of the focuses of my current research, was through an excellent workshop given by Dr Benjamin Goudey at BioInfoSummer. BioInfoSummer supported my transition into the field of bioinformatics.

How did your experience at BioInfoSummer influence your role as a committee member?

Having attended BioInfoSummer, I recognise the importance of the student experience. For many, BioInfoSummer provides an introduction to several fields of applied mathematics and therefore an opportunity to engage with those that engage them at a greater depth. As one of the committee members planning the 鈥淓merging Technologies鈥� day, I have been excited to help design a program that will hopefully be not only informative, but exciting. We have planned several workshops, applying cutting edge mathematical methods, to hopefully allow attendees to engage with the material they have encountered in the lectures given, in a fun and interactive way.

What challenges have you encountered while planning events, and how have you addressed them?

Planning educational events is always a balancing act. It can be challenging to find manage the tradeoff between breadth and depth, and I really do believe that having an opportunity to apply an understanding is an essential part of education. The combination of lectures and workshops at BioInfoSummer means that the event is not only a great way to meet like-minded individuals and learn about topics of interest, but an opportunity to apply this learning, which attendees will hopefully find valuable. We have kept this in mind while planning BioInfoSummer and have tried to complement lectures with relevant workshops wherever possible.

What new topics or areas are you hoping to introduce to BioInfoSummer to keep it relevant and impactful for attendees?

This year, BioInfoSummer will be held over three days and will focus on whole cell modelling, machine learning and AI for genomics and emerging technologies in science. These are expanding areas of interest, that the organising committee have carefully selected, with the hope that they be of current and increasing relevance to attendees. I personally am really excited about the program this year, and actually plan on attending some of the sessions myself!

How do your experiences in education, such as developing programs for the Museum of Human Disease, influence your approach to organising educational content for BioInfoSummer?

My background in education has definitely influenced my approach to organising BioInfoSummer. It has helped me to recognise the importance of not only presenting exciting and new topics, but also scaffolding the understanding of attendees. We have tried to make the program both accessible and engaging, with a focus on ensuring the workshops complement the material covered in the lectures. I think this can really help to support individuals in continuing their learning after the event has concluded.

What do you hope for the future of mathematics in Australia and globally?

I hope that an emphasis is placed on ensuring mathematics is accessible for all. Unfortunately, it seems that the negative stigma attached to mathematics, as a difficult subject, persists. As a society, I feel our attitude towards mathematics needs to shift, and I feel that the key to this is to provide opportunities for individuals of all ages to continue their training in mathematics. I have personally been extremely privileged to have had access to opportunities to re-engage with mathematics as an adult, through events like BioInfoSummer. This ongoing education has not only fostered the development of my mathematical proficiencies but has increased my overall willingness to engage with mathematics and feel confident while doing so! I have been extremely lucky and suspect that my journey may be the exception rather than the rule. Increased efforts to support equitable access to mathematical training at all stages of life are needed. We should never stop learning and I hope that in the present and future, our focus shifts towards making mathematical education both more accessible and encouraged at all points of life.

What are your hobbies or interests outside of work?听

I鈥檓 quite obsessed with marine biology. In my spare time I can often be found snorkeling and taking pictures at my local marine sanctuary! I particularly love sea slugs and help with cataloging different species every chance that I get!

This interview is part of our 今日吃瓜 alumni Series.听If you鈥檙e an 今日吃瓜 alumni, we would love to hear what you have been up to! Tag us in your posts on and so we can share your achievements. Please contact us if you would like to be featured in our monthly newsletter: media@amsi.org.au.

听

Dr William Trad

今日吃瓜 Summer School and 今日吃瓜 SRS 2018/2019

What is your role in the Mathematical Sciences?

I am currently a postdoc at . People in my position usually do some mix of research and teaching. Though, my position is unfortunately purely research focused.

As an 今日吃瓜 alumnus, how did participating in 今日吃瓜 programs support your career trajectory?

The 今日吃瓜 VRS program illuminated a microscopic aspect of the research conducted in partial differential equations. Despite my limited exposure, I found the project to be compelling enough to motivate me to want to work in something related to partial differential equations. Subsequent 今日吃瓜 programs that I participated in allowed me to establish a broader mathematical knowledge bank. Specifically speaking, I was able to dip my toes in areas of math that I may never have even touched or known about during my undergraduate years. For example, I had the opportunity to partake in courses on Bayesian statistics as well as mathematical finance and machine learning.

Despite not explicitly working in these areas, the problems that I solved during my PhD involved analyzing the behavior of Brownian motions within confined non-Euclidean geometries via a tool known as microlocal analysis which is an offshoot of harmonic analysis used when studying partial differential equations via a phase space paradigm. As a result, I found that some of the partial differential equations, probability and stochastic analysis that I had learned prior gave me some level of intuition for my work.

Recently, I鈥檝e drifted away from anything probability related and am more interested in geometry. Nonetheless, my understanding of probability has given me another vector when it comes to thinking about partial differential operators and their deep connections to stochastic processes, such as the Laplacian and Brownian motion or the less understood fractional Laplacian and L茅vy process.

You are currently a postdoctoral fellow at the Institute for Advanced Study, the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. Could you tell us a little bit about what you are studying and advice you would give to students in the mathematical sciences interested in further study abroad?

I work in a field known as Inverse problems. Within this field I study variations of a problem that lies at a confluence of geometry and partial differential equations. In practice, the original problem was posed to model a noninvasive medical imaging procedure known as electrical impedance tomography wherein the conductivity of a body is reconstructed from boundary surface electrode measurements. Such variations of the problem can involve partial boundary measurements, questions regarding stability of the inferred conductivity given minor perturbations of the boundary current measurements and lastly the uniqueness of the conductivity given the boundary current measurements.

Personally speaking, despite the help and support that I received from my supervisor. I found it a little bit isolating and quite lonely when doing my PhD at USYD because the only other PhD students in Australia that worked with the tools that I used were at ANU and UNIMELB. Consequentially, I think I may have felt less isolated if I had applied to these universities or universities in the US or France where microlocal analysis is more commonly used in partial differential equations. Essentially, I believe that when choosing a postgraduate program, it is important to consider the liveliness of the research group that interests you.

A benefit of studying abroad in the US for example is the sheer density of universities and thus likelihood of stumbling upon an interesting conference that may be related to your work. This is like Europe, and it is in this sense that studying overseas has a clear upside. Consequently, it is usually much easier to establish an academic network when studying in the US or EU. When considering further study, you also must consider the length of PhD programs, as well as their structures and application procedures. In the US, PhDs are known to be quite long and involve a bit of coursework in comparison to other PhDs where there are no coursework requirements. Furthermore, means of PhD 鈥渇unding鈥� differ depending on location. In Australia, students are funded by RTP stipends. On the other hand, such funding is more complex in places such as the US and can be the result of your supervisors’ grant or internal or national fellowships.

今日吃瓜鈥檚 State of the Mathematical Sciences Discipline Profile is releasing soon. It is reported that students these days prefer the basic maths subjects in Years 11 & 12 over more advanced maths subject options. What are some of the thoughts or opinions you would comment on this trend?

听I don鈥檛 have any strong opinions regarding this issue, though I imagine this trend probably stems from the alienation of many students from mathematics during early schooling. Which I would hazard a guess is probably a result of shortages in good teaching. I don鈥檛 think there鈥檚 a simple fix for such an issue. Though, I believe that improving the working conditions for schoolteachers to incentivise more people to want to become teachers can only be a good thing when it comes to empowering students to succeed.

What do you hope for the future of mathematics in Australia and globally?

Once again, I haven鈥檛 really got any strong opinions on this question and can鈥檛 really speak for the entire world. Though I think it would be nice if more high school students did end up coming into our first-year courses open minded enough to pursue further math and had the confidence to partake in our more challenging courses.

What are your hobbies or interests outside of work?

I really enjoy reading novels. I also enjoy hiking, watching tv shows and movies, playing games and my guitar.

This interview is part of our 今日吃瓜 alumni Series.听If you鈥檙e an 今日吃瓜 alumni, we would love to hear what you have been up to! Tag us in your posts on and so we can share your achievements. Please contact us if you would like to be featured in our monthly newsletter: media@amsi.org.au.

听

Dr听Shila Ghazanfar听

今日吃瓜 BioInfoSummer 2013

What is your role in the Mathematical Sciences?

I am a Lecturer and ARC DECRA Fellow in the School of Mathematics and Statistics at the University of Sydney. I am also affiliated with the Charles Perkins Centre, a multi-disciplinary institute focusing on easing the burden of chronic disease, the Kolling Institute, and a research leader in the Sydney Precision Data Science Centre at the University of Sydney. I received a Bachelor of Science (Advanced Mathematics) (Honours I) from the University of Sydney with majors in statistics and pure mathematics, before completing a PhD in Statistical Bioinformatics in 2018.

In 2022 I completed my postdoctoral training as a Royal Society Newton International Fellow at the University of Cambridge and European Molecular Biology Laboratory-European Bioinformatics Institute. I am a biomedical data scientist, and I focus on using my foundation in applied statistics to develop new analytics, methodologies and software to help us understand complex datasets arising from cutting-edge biotechnologies such as molecule-resolved spatial transcriptomics and single-cell sequencing. I lead a team of postgraduate and postdoctoral researchers embarking on methodological and collaborative projects.

As an 今日吃瓜 alumnus, how did participating in 今日吃瓜 programs support your career trajectory?

I attended my first 今日吃瓜 BioInfoSummer in Adelaide in December 2013, I was in the first year of my PhD in statistical bioinformatics and I was one of the recipients of a Student Travel Award. As a student with no background in biology, BioInfoSummer was the perfect venue to learn more about the breadth of topics in modern bioinformatics and biomedical data science.

Since being a participant back in 2013, I have had the absolute privilege of contributing as a workshop trainer in Sydney in 2015, a national speaker in Perth in 2018, an international speaker in Sydney in 2019, and most recently a national speaker in Melbourne in 2022. BioInfoSummer is a brilliant event and I love that I have had the opportunity to share my skills and knowledge with as much enthusiasm as my instructors did back in 2013!

As you are currently working in in the evolving field of statistical bioinformatics which looks for genetic relationships that might give new insights into diseases like cancer, what has been one of the most rewarding parts of your job in the mathematical sciences?听

The most rewarding aspect of my job is to see the use of applied statistics and statistical machine learning to aid in discovery. The fact that we can take seemingly indecipherable mountains of data and distil it to identify relevant biomolecules in a range of biological and disease settings continues to amaze and inspire me.

The variety of disease applications for statistical bioinformatics means that, as a discipline, statistical bioinformatics has the capacity to provide a huge impact to many areas, such as cancer. In terms of day-to-day activities, one of my favourite things about being a statistical bioinformatician and biomedical data scientist is that I am always learning new aspects of biomedicine from my brilliant national and international collaborators.

The 今日吃瓜 Year 12 report card mentions that enrolments in elementary level mathematics (Essential and General Mathematics) are declining. In 2022, less than half of the year 12 graduating cohort (45.8%) studied an elementary level mathematics subject. What are some words of advice you would give high school students to encourage them to continue mathematics study?

I think this trend is alarming. My fear is that the students who are not taking higher levels of mathematics 鈥� who otherwise would have in previous years 鈥� may belong to historically underrepresented groups, and may entrench societal disadvantage, especially in today鈥檚 digital and data age where mathematics foundations are so critical.

My advice to high school students who are considering their options for mathematics study is to give yourself more credit and know that you can rise to the occasion. I was extremely fortunate to have a Year 10 Maths teacher who heavily encouraged me to pursue Extension 1 maths, and I distinctly remember telling him that I didn鈥檛 think I was good enough, to which he replied, 鈥渏ust try it, and see how you go鈥�. I ended up doing very well, and oddly enough had the same conversation when deciding to pursue Extension 2 maths, and again when deciding on University subjects. I recognise the immense privilege in having a teacher push me to higher and more mathematics and hope that students reading this feel empowered to push themselves!

What do you hope for the future of mathematics in a tech-evolving society?

I hope that some of the main principles of mathematics: systematic and critical thinking, logical argument, and identifying structure and patterns, continue to help us navigate a world where there is ever-more data being generated and used. In my work I use a huge amount of data to try to identify biological patterns, but I am keenly aware that there can be major biases in the data, which can lead to incorrect conclusions. I hope for fairness and increased understanding of data provenance to be a major factor in decision-making, especially as important decisions that impact us as a society are being informed by big and complex data.

What are your hobbies or interests outside of work?听

I love to cook! When I lived in Cambridge, I started to become quite homesick, especially for foods from my Afghan heritage. So, like many, I turned to long Skype calls with my family (and Youtube) to learn the recipes for my favourite dishes.

This interview is part of our 今日吃瓜 alumni Series.听If you鈥檙e an 今日吃瓜 alumni, we would love to hear what you have been up to! Tag us in your posts on and so we can share your achievements. Please contact us if you would like to be featured in our monthly newsletter: media@amsi.org.au.

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