This story is from June 6, 2016

Applied math for multiplied jobs

It's that time of the year again, when students have to make choices that will define their careers. To have many choices is wonderful but when the options are many, and all appear compelling, making an informed decision is a challenge. TOI's 'Mission Admission' guides students through the season.
Applied math for multiplied jobs
It's that time of the year again, when students have to make choices that will define their careers. To have many choices is wonderful but when the options are many, and all appear compelling, making an informed decision is a challenge. TOI's 'Mission Admission' guides students through the season.
Today's focus: Mathematics clubbing math with subjects like biology, finance can open up a range of prospects for students
It's that time of the year again, when students have to make choices that will define their careers. To have many choices is wonderful but when the options are many, and all appear compelling, making an informed decision is a challenge. TOI's 'Mission Admission' guides students through the season.
Knowing your numbers is one thing, but knowing what to do with them is a different ball game.
And that's what several mathematical institutes across the country are now trying to focus on -to show students that a career can add up past the blackboard.
Three years ago, for instance, professor Rajeeva Karandikar, director of Chennai Mathematical Institute, designed a postgraduate course, Applications of Math, with specific focus on financial mathematics and analytics, probably the only one of its kind in the country.
"People with math degrees are in demand in the finance sector, especially in banking, and in areas such as risk assessment and trading," says Karandikar, who adds that the course that comes closest to this one is an applied statistics course in IIT-Bombay . "But the math courses usually don't focus on these subjects and steer students directly into career paths. The students end up sort of stumbling into these niche jobs. We hope our course gives them a more career-oriented perspective," he says, and adds most PG courses focus on fluid mathematics.

While the course has few takers, which the professor blames on lack of awareness, most of his students have ended up with good jobs. The highest compensation so far received by a student has been around Rs 18 lakh per annum. The course deals with financial mathematics, and analytics, which focuses on statistical math and computer science. This part is geared towards data management, another burgeoning industry.
While there are several arts and science colleges that offer undergraduate programmes in math, professor R Balasubramanian, retired director of the Indian Institute of Mathematical Sciences, Chennai, suggests students take subjects from other disciplines like biology , computer science and economics as supplements to math. "It's a value addition for students looking to work after their Bachelor's degree. Math grads are always in demand and with an add-on from another subject, they will easily find well-paying jobs in areas like computational biology and finance," says Balasubramanian, but adds that he always recommends a postgraduate degree in math or computer applications for better employment prospects.
Another sought after specialised branch of applied mathematics is financial mathematics, says Balasubramanian. "But the buzz word is applied math. Unless students are taught and trained where and how mathematics can be applied, there is not much scope in the field outside research and teaching," he adds. For instance, says Balasubramanian, the world of social and life sciences are in need of mathematicians, but most students don't realise it. He cites the examples of computational biology, or bioinformatics, the science of using biological data to find relations among biological systems; and cryptography or cryptology, used in the network security industry .
"If these newer areas don't appeal, students can always take up teaching or research, which need quality people," says Balasubramanian, adding with more engineering institutes being set up every year, the demand is high."Mathematicians are also needed in institutes like the Isro and DRDO," says Balasubramanian, who is associated with Isro.
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