Information for high school students

Mathematics research: Pure or Applied?

 

Mathematics is one of the oldest fields of human intellectual endeavour, already in its third millennium. Still, it can be said without exaggeration that this is an era of unprecedented excitement and opportunities for mathematics. Dramatic breakthroughs in the physical and biological sciences as well as the data revolution give rise to a wealth of novel mathematical challenges, which in turn further invigorate the foundations of mathematics. Mathematics is often perceived as falling in one of two categories: pure (theoretical) or applied. Is this distinction really there however? EPFL researchers will present and discuss the problems they work on – from fundamental questions about the structure of numbers and properties of space to the modelling of complex natural/socioeconomic phenomena and the extraction of knowledge from data under uncertainty – providing a glimpse of the bewildering breadth of mathematical research and at the same time of the deep interconnections that pervade it.

 

Career opportunities: What does a mathematician do?

 

Walk into a company, and you’ll never see a tag with the title “mathematician” on someone’s office door. Yet mathematicians are in extraordinary demand in the job market and staff lucrative positions in industries as diverse as banking, pharmaceuticals, insurance, and telecommunications, to name only a few. The reason? Their unique ability to reason rigorously within a quantitative framework. We’ll discuss these opportunities, and how studies at EPFL prepare students to rise to the challenge. An equally important track is that of a career in education. This paths been an important direction for mathematicians traditionally, and indeed one that remains in high demand in high schools across Switzerland. Studies in mathematics at EPFL allow students to pursue this career, and we will go over the requirements and options.