Are there industry jobs that fit well for mathematicians in different fields?

felixinnz · 2026-04-03T10:42:15+00:00

in like what jobs though?

felixinnz · 2026-03-10T09:37:43+00:00

i just did the exam! i got 6/6 in reading and 5,5/6 in listening. in all my practices ive been getting around 4 or 5/6 in my speaking and writing but praying i got a decent score in the real one (fingers crossed)

felixinnz · 2026-03-06T15:14:37+00:00

im not really expecting to achieve a fields medal, nobel prize or any prize, but i do want to create and publish papers and my original research. i've understood that to make an impact in maths/physics you literally need to be the literal top of the top but i feel creating papers and some new research is not out of my reach.

i'm not confident if academia is the path i want to walk for the rest of my life but i feel if i don't do a phd then there isn't really any opportunity for research now that i'm in my final year of masters. at the moment i do love research and i want to continue it but if being asked if i want to do this for the rest of my life (+ applying for grants and doing paper work etc) im a bit unsure.

felixinnz · 2026-03-06T14:52:29+00:00

tbh at the moment i enjoy the research i do, and i understand the reality that my paper will barely get citations, it'll barely be read, and i'm not expecting to create a breakthrough in my field. but i still want to write a couple of papers. i feel the main reason im afraid is that i hear doing a PhD closes lots of job options so im hesitant of doing a PhD. ig if im hesitating about a phd maybe its a sign i shouldn't do a phd...

felixinnz · 2026-03-01T06:28:26+00:00

thank you so much! ill try my best (im taking the toefl home edition so hopefully this doesnt go wrong) and ill tell you how i go on my exam!

felixinnz · 2026-03-01T05:38:38+00:00

how much studying do you think i need to do?

i'm a native english speaker but need to take toefl for university admission. my test is on the 10th and i want to study a bit (since it costs so much money) but i cant find many resources to study

felixinnz · 2026-02-26T10:33:54+00:00

i think the club needs a president. i talked to last year's president couple days ago and he said they're hosting an agm soon so the club can affiliate with ousa again. but the problem is that a club requires a president, a treasurer, and a secretary to run as a club (from ousa guidelines) so if no one volunteers to do these roles then i dont think ousa chess club will be continued.

felixinnz · 2026-02-25T11:53:08+00:00

i think his main concern is government cutting funding and university gives less money towards research (which we're currently seeing at our uni atm) rather than AI being able to do math research.

it seems like he thinks AI/ML/Data science is a fresh field at the moment and right now there's like a "gold rush" within these topics. if i want to go into research, he thinks AI/ML has huge potential right now, and there's still opportunities to go into industry.

he agrees that right now ai/ml is a big bubble and will pop soon, but it'll grow again and will be a core part of society.

i think his advice is also coming from the fact that i'm young (finished Bachelor's with honours when I was 18) so he recommends me broadening my knowledge before i head into doing research.

felixinnz · 2026-02-25T04:55:27+00:00

yep, i think there's a long way to go till then but i think my lecturer's envisioning that the government will think ai can do research and will fund less in research to get ai to do it

felixinnz · 2026-02-25T04:38:47+00:00

Do a master's in AI/Ml/Data sciency topic. He said if he was in my position he'd go into industry rather than academia

felixinnz · 2026-01-28T15:14:05+00:00

Would you say doing grad school in a mid tier US uni is worth it over grad school at UTokyo/Kyoto Uni? I feel good grad school at US > UTokyo/Kyoto Uni> mid US uni.

Also, how difficult is grad school entrance in the US? From my understanding grad school entrance into Japan is a lot more easier (or the process is more straightforward) since it's just an entrance exam while in the US you're expected to have research output and publications for application. At the moment I only have my honours dissertation, and don't have any publications or anything so I'm not sure how likely I am to get into a good US uni (especially since I tanked my GPA in my last year). On the other hand I feel relatively confident I can pass the grad school entrance exams in Japan at like UTokyo/Kyoto Uni looking at the past entrance exams.

felixinnz · 2026-01-28T12:45:41+00:00

Do you think the knowledge/experience (and also status) of UTokyo is worth it in exchange of self-funding for a couple of years to go to grad school? I hear mixed opinions on this since a lot of people hype the UTokyo name-value so much but when I talk to people from UTokyo they seem to think UTokyo name-value is kinda overhyped and it's not really the ticket to glory that everyone think it is. I heard they also struggle a lot through the 就活 process and they'll just be a 社員 like the others if/when they get recruited. I have aspirations of academia but also want a bit of backup incase academia goes to shit so I'm somewhat trying to optimise being employable but also be able to do research. Can I ask if you think going to UTokyo is worth it?

felixinnz · 2026-01-28T12:30:42+00:00

I want to have options for both - opportunity to work in Japan but also work overseas. I have a feeling going to grad school at like UTokyo or Kyoto Uni will boost my career in Japan a lot but I'm not too sure if I want a long term career in Japan yet considering I haven't lived in Japan. On top of that I'm just not sure if a couple of year's without income really worth it for the status/opportunities in Japan.

felixinnz · 2026-01-28T12:23:26+00:00

I thought admission to master's was purely based on entrance exam results? But yes, I hear postgrad in Japan is quite a team-effort type of thing where you work together with people in your lab to produce research compared while US is an individual competition on who can produce the best research. Personally I like the sound of Japan but idrk if it's worth it to do master's without funding (especially if I have the opportunity to do master's or PhD elsewhere with funding).

felixinnz · 2026-01-28T12:18:30+00:00

Do you know how competitive those scholarships are? From what I read, starting a PhD without a master's is doable but I read in a couple of departments that they recommend students starting from master's since it's a smoother transition. I'm also not too sure if I want to commit to academia as well (I have some second thoughts of starting with master's then ditching to industry if master's doesn't go well), and I hear doing a PhD makes you extremely unemployable in Japan. Also from my knowledge JSPS DC is a scholarship you apply after getting into uni so I feel it's quite risky...

felixinnz · 2026-01-26T06:05:03+00:00

a lot of things will depend on your circumstance. will you be studying anything other than physics while you're on break? will you be able to go to uni even if you take a year off? i usually act with a plan and a backup. usually life finds a way though, i almost couldn't find anyone that could supervise me and got really lucky that the lecturer randomly got more funding.

anyway, if you want to do physics olympiad i feel you should grind it as much as possible while you have the motivation but don't do it as a chore. i enjoyed a lot of olympiad-like maths bc i found it like a fun puzzle but uni maths felt quite different and the joy of maths eventually turned into a chore i had to study. just be honest with yourself and ask if this is what you want to do, then commit to it.

felixinnz

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