• Question: I am a logical person who is talented at maths that wants to pursue a science career. What careers should I attempt to pursue?

    Asked by anon-209760 to Verity, Sergio, Nick, Maria, David, Annette on 8 Mar 2019.
    • Photo: Maria Walach

      Maria Walach answered on 8 Mar 2019:


      I would say do whatever you find the most interesting! If you want to study at University, physics is a great choice – or perhaps maths?
      Also don’t worry about choosing a career early on because you can always change jobs later on! 🙂

    • Photo: David Whitworth

      David Whitworth answered on 8 Mar 2019:


      Study what you love, and if it changes then don’t worry, you can change. I first went to university and studied chemistry, 10years later after not really doing much in science I studied astrophysics at the Open University for another undergrad degree, and am now doing a PhD in it. Do what excites you in science.

      For careers, I would say not to think to heavily about that until University as your ideas might change, some people think they want to go into industry at the start but find they love academia and research, or vice-versa.

    • Photo: Annette Raffan

      Annette Raffan answered on 8 Mar 2019:


      Firstly, aim for what you enjoy the most. Are you interested in university or would you prefer on the job training? If you enjoy doing theoretical work rather than practical then you may be more interested in the university path. Careers in maths are actually very wide-ranging. You can do modelling, statistics, physics, engineering even ‘biological’ maths. Don’t worry too much about the exact career at the moment but I would aim for an area. It’s a great idea to have a combination such as maths with computing or biology for example because it will put you in a much stronger position. ‘Interdisciplinary’ skills are very in demand at the moment. Ideas of careers if you’re interesting in seeing what skills they have could be modelling climate change, traffic flow or weather patterns; you could work in industry forecasting trends or studying the impact of a new product; there’s academia where you could lead your own research, manage a high tech laboratory or be a statistics specialist; you could look a population trends; there’s also socio-economic research where science can also meet economics and social trends; you could look at fluid dynamics and oil exploration – they need maths experts as do drugs companies and research investigating new options and disease behaviour. Hope this helps!

    • Photo: Nick Werren

      Nick Werren answered on 11 Mar 2019:


      Do what makes you feel fulfilled and happy. This is difficult for me to suggest because only you can know what you’re passionate about.

      If you want to pursue a career in science then go for it! Science is massive, and could mean anything. Maths will always come in useful so keep working at that. But for everything else – just do what you love and what you find interesting. I studied physics because I found it challenging, and now I’m doing a PhD in quantum physics that I love!

      But also never be afraid to try something new and explore outside of your comfort zone!! Life is about living, so keep learning!

    • Photo: Sergio Adan Bermudez

      Sergio Adan Bermudez answered on 11 Mar 2019: last edited 11 Mar 2019 7:58 pm


      I would encourage you to go with maths. It is a very versatile subject and maths can be applied in any field. If you are not sure if you want to specialise in something in particular study maths as a science!

    • Photo: Verity Woodhall

      Verity Woodhall answered on 12 Mar 2019:


      Logical thinking sits really well with computer programming and data analysis. But as everyone else has said, you really have to do something you enjoy and you can change jobs later on, most people don’t do the same job for ever, so you can change if you find something you enjoy even more!

Comments