Name: Sebastian Damrich
Job title: PMP summer placement
Organisation: Department of Economics, University of Buckingham
Duration: 8 weeks
Qualification: Master of Advanced Study Degree in Mathematics, University of Cambridge
Description of organisation: The University of Buckingham is a private university in the UK.
Aim of the internship: Develop a two sector model of science as an economic good.
Average day at work: A mixture of pen and paper work to figure out the maths and Python programming to test my results and to gain an intuition of the most important aspects.
What do you like most about your job: I was very free in my research and could explore different approaches. It was also great to be able to do so much programming.
What stimulated your interest in maths, and when? Already in school when I participated in many different mathematical competitions such as the Mathematical Olympiad.
Which skills do you consider essential for the job: A basic knowledge of economics and the ability to abstract real world effects in order to develop a mathematical model. Then of course profound mathematical skills to solve the model. Programming skills are helpful.
Any advice you may have for other individuals considering your career path: It is amazing to see how broadly mathematics can be applied and how rather pure maths can come in handy in a different subject. Another key skill that can be leant in such a summer placement is to translate between the worlds and languages of economics and mathematics.
Your future career plans: I will finish a Master of Science Degree in Mathematics at the University of Heidelberg, Germany.
