Tag Archives: maths

Spotlight on Women in Science with Roma Agrawal

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Roma-Agrawal

{credit}Credit: Nicola Evans, WSP {/credit}

Naturejobs is celebrating Women in Science. Every day this week we’re interviewing an inspirational woman in science. Yesterday, we spoke to Professor Frances Ashcroft.

Today, Naturejobs talks to Roma Agrawal, a physicist turned engineer, now working as a structural engineer at WSP Group. I went to visit her at the WSP Group offices, London, to find out more about her adventures in engineering and supporting young people in science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) studies.

Roma decided to study physics because she loved maths and physics, there was nothing else to it. With some encouragement from teachers at school, she went off to university to study for a degree in physics. “It was really clear to me at the time that you could do a huge range of careers with physics, so it didn’t feel like I was limiting myself.”

But what to do after graduation took some thought. Roma didn’t find much inspiration at the university careers fairs, “you only had accountant, investment banks, and all these financial institutions coming in to these careers days. And I really wasn’t very interested by any of that.” After studying physics for such a long time, Roma wanted to use her degree skills in a practical way, rather than just head for the financial district. So she tried her hand in engineering by doing some work experience. “My role was very boring… however, I was surrounded by very, very inspirational engineers, and they gave me little bits and pieces to do, and I saw how it was all about problem solving. And that’s when the light bulb went off.”

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Marcus du Sautoy: Communicating Science within the Sciences and to the Public

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Marcus du Sautoy. A passionate advocate for the "wonders of science".

Marcus du Sautoy. A passionate advocate for the “wonders of science”.

Marcus du Sautoy, OBE, is the Simonyi Professor for Public Understanding of Science and a Professor of Mathematics at the University of Oxford. He is known for his efforts in popularizing mathematics and has been named by The Independent on Sunday as one of the UK’s leading scientists. He was a recipient of the London Mathematical Society’s prestigious Berwick Prize in 2001, which is awarded every two years to reward the best mathematical research by a mathematician under forty.

Du Sautoy writes for the Times and the Guardian and has presented numerous television and radio programmes, including The Story of Maths, School of Hard Sums and The Code. He is also the author of many academic articles and books including the best-selling The Music of the Primes and The Num8er My5teries: A Mathematical Odyssey Through Everyday Life.

When mathematician Marcus du Sautoy was appointed the prestigious role of the Simonyi Professor for the Public Understanding of Science at the University of Oxford back in October 2008, he had two distinct priorities looming prominently in his mind.

The job brief was clear in its motives at the time and reflected on the one-hand high-level science, and on the other, the ability to communicate this scientific research widely to a public audience. The latter was the first priority. Stepping into fill the boots of the inaugural holder Richard Dawkins, was by no means an easy feat, but du Sautoy also a Professor of Mathematics at the University of Oxford, took to the role naturally.

“When I took over from Richard, my immediate thoughts were on clearly communicating to the public what was happening in science,” says du Sautoy. “Science has such a big impact on humanity. In order for people to feel empowered and for them to be able to make decisions on where they want science to go and the long lasting effects it has on society, they must first fully understand the surrounding issues.”

The second role of his job, encouraging the communication of science between disciplines within the sciences, is perhaps the most intriguing, in terms of developments. The biggest challenges, du Sautoy says, are the “inbuilt education system” and the “linguistic barriers” across the sciences. “This is a fascinating area where across academia we’re looking to break down the silo mentality which I believe has been prevalent in most universities across the world”, asserts du Sautoy. “This is partly due to the time and hard work we put into our own specialist subject meaning there often isn’t time to see what’s happening in other areas.”

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Survey finds science graduates neglect career planning

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More than a quarter of final-year physics and maths undergraduates and a third of final-year geography undergraduates in the United Kingdom had no idea what kind of career they wanted when they entered university, according to new research from the Department for Business Innovation and Skills.

The survey of more than 7,000 science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) students at undergraduate and postgraduate level also showed that less than a third of final-year PhD students have a definite career in mind.

Other key findings include:

• Fewer than half of final-year physics undergraduates definitely want to pursue a career related to their degree — the second lowest figure across all STEM subjects in the survey

• Almost half of final-year PhD students across all subjects are not sure they want to pursue a career related to their research

One of the report’s authors, Robin Mellors-Bourne from the Careers Research & Advisory Centre, says that the research highlighted weaknesses in the careers advice and information on offer to students before they go to university. “Very few students choose their subject with a career in mind,” he says.

Mellors-Bourne says schools and colleges focus on promoting university as a good thing in and of itself, and don’t give enough information about potential careers. This leaves students with a lack of broad labour-market knowledge. “I think that’s particularly true of physics,” he told Naturejobs.

He says that while students shouldn’t feel compelled to make highly rational career decisions before university, more forward planning is needed: “It’s quite useful for parents or students to have some inkling of the sorts of careers that naturally would be opened up [by doing a degree].”

Institute of Physics careers manager Vishanti Fox says that the skills learnt during a physics degree are highly valued by a wide range of employers, but she agrees that students considering the subject need more information about potential careers. “Careers advice to school students and undergraduates is an area that can always be improved,” she says. “We are working with schools, universities, businesses and Government to make sure students know the options open to them with qualifications in physics.”

Mellors-Bourne says forensic science is a prime example of the dangers of ignoring career prospects when choosing a course. He estimates that because of interest from students there are now around 100 forensic science degree courses available in the UK, but only around 50 jobs become available each year, leading to a “horrendous oversupply” of forensic science graduates. “I don’t think any of them entered [their degree] realising that they probably wouldn’t get a job at the end,” he says.

What’s your reaction to the report? If you’re a student, do you feel as though you have access to enough careers advice? If you’re working as a scientist, what’s your experience of career planning?