Ellen Muir

I completed a Bachelor of Science in 2011, with a double specialisation in pure and applied mathematics. When I was choosing my breadth subjects in first-year, a subject adviser suggested I might like microeconomics. I didn't expect to learn economics at university and I certainly didn't expect it would become a major research focus of my PhD.

In 2013 I finished my Masters of Science (Mathematics and Statistics) specialising in the application of mathematics on economics. During this I began to appreciate how mathematics can be used as a powerful tool to gain insight into problems in a variety of fields and applications.

Studying at the University of Melbourne has given me the opportunity to pursue my research interests in mathematics and economics with excellent supervision and mentoring. It has given me a broad range of experiences, such as living on campus at Janet Clarke Hall, tutoring undergraduates and travelling overseas. I would encourage science students to consider taking mathematics subjects, as they equip you with valuable quantitative, problem-solving and analytical skills.

See here to find out more about Janet Clarke Hall and other residential colleges.

Suvini Perera

With the world population ever climbing, biotechnology has the ability to directly answer problems related to the demand for food, medicines and many other key global challenges. The Master of Biotechnology uniquely offers a taste of both research and industry, so I jumped at the opportunity to explore either option.

As a part of the industry project in the degree, our group has been tasked with identifying the key influencers of a novel peanut allergy vaccine currently being developed by a relevantly new start-up biotech company. Already within this first month of working on the project, I have met three CEOs, put together a professional charter and have begun sketching the competitive landscape for our product. Over the next few months I’ll get to meet other key people involved in the process of commercialising a biotech product, including the IP lawyers and the lead researchers. With access to some of the finest resources, my team and I will put together a report that the company will use.

I have relished the sense of community within the Master of Biotechnology; I’m happy to say that most faces of our year are now familiar to me. There is a strong focus on teamwork in the coursework, meaning that you do a fair amount of group work within your core subjects. It’s been truly rewarding; I met my closest friends in the course through group assignments.

Find out more about the Master of Biotechnology Industry Project here.

Jeremy Lee

Jeremy is specialising in Tectonogeochemistry during his MSc (Earth Sciences).

I love exploring the natural world and I have always been curious about how things come about. Studying geology has allowed me to learn so many things about the Earth and its history. I have also met so many like-minded people, travelled to unique places, gained heaps of knowledge, and made lifelong friendships.

My dream career would definitely involve travelling to and exploring new places. I have been lucky enough to see some of the finest spectacles Earth has to offer, leading me to appreciate the outdoors on a whole new level. I’d love to research large scale tectonic processes in different places around the world.

The highlight of my studies has been travelling to Timor-Leste for my Masters research. I spent six weeks in very remote areas of the island in order to map its geology and collect samples for further analysis. It was an amazing experience to explore places that no one may have been to before and to discover new things previously unseen.

My advice would be to try not to look too far ahead into the future. Have fun with your course, try some different subjects and meet new people. You might find you have a hidden passion for something. Something I didn’t expect to learn is how to cut a rock down to 30 microns thick in order to look at it under a microscope. When I first learned about the process, it seemed completely surreal to me, but now it is just standard practice.

James Ha

James is completing a major in Chemistry alongside a Diploma of Mathematical Science

Whilst attending two youth science forums, NYSF (Perth, 2013) and LIYSF (London, 2013), I was fortunate to hear from several distinguished scientists and see science in action at facilities such as CERN. These experiences inspired me to pursue chemistry, through which we can understand so much of the natural world around us. I find it fascinating that chemistry can explain physical phenomena by considering interactions between the smallest of objects. My interest for statistics was piqued in second year, when I was first able to appreciate the role maths has in forging new knowledge from data. This helps us to draw informed conclusions, which seems particularly relevant in this information epoch.

As science branches ever further outwards, it has become increasingly difficult for scientists to specialise in multiple areas. I hope to be able to communicate science across disciplinary boundaries and to synthesise and distil the information down to the level where policy-makers can use it effectively. Either that, or I'd love to use statistics to help improve conditions in the developing world, by creating and analysing models for complex issues such as food distribution, climate change or disease outbreak. Immediately after I graduate, I want to travel to Peru and tackle the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu.

Certain subjects can completely change the way you view the world. For me, studying Famine (GEOG10001) and Intro to International Politics (INST10001) provided these revelations, opening my mind to radically different perspectives through frameworks such as Sen's Entitlement Theory and Feminism/Gender in Politics. I never anticipated it, but university introduced me to feminism, through which my perception of the world has undoubtedly changed for the better. I hope that I am more aware of privilege and inequality now (with respect to gender, race and other arbitrary classifications), and I have made time to volunteer for a program that aims to tackle educational inequality in Victoria.

James received the 2015 Huntsman Australia Prize and the 2014 Dwight Prize in Chemistry.

For more information on breadth subject options, see here.