Heath Robertson
Monash University
I’m an honours student at Monash University, working in differential geometry after completing my Bachelor’s of Science with a major in mathematics and a minor in statistics. At the 2025 AMSI Summer School I took the Elliptic PDE from an elementary viewpoint unit with Enrico Valdinoci, which was incredibly interesting and great fun.
Can you give me a quick rundown about the type of mathematics you are studying and its potential impacts for the broader community (think how you would explain your work and studies to others who don’t study maths)
The type of maths I’m working on is in the field of differential geometry. Specifically, I’m looking at variations of curvature tensors. In other words, taking derivatives of objects that describe how curvy a space is – quite weird!! It is, however, very useful – this is the maths that was used in developing the theory of general relativity, for example.
How did you get into mathematics/statistics/data science? Was there someone or something that inspired you to this field?
The thing that got me into maths was definitely my compulsory first year maths class in uni, that every science student had to do! I wasn’t too great at high school mathematics and so I was quite apprehensive going into it, but the lecturer was fantastic and the content was super interesting, which gave me the motivation and confidence to continue doing maths.
You received a Travel Grant to attend AMSI Summer School 2025. How important was this in terms of your ability to attend, fully participate in the program and meet others studying in similar fields? Do you think it was an advantage to attend the program in-person?
Getting the grant and being able to attend this event in person was really important. It’s such a unique experience and being able to attend lectures live and meet everybody in person is really vital in getting the most out of the summer school.
What was the most valuable part of the program for you?
Making new connections with people from all over the country was by far the most valuable part of the experience. The course was excellent as well, but the friendships you make during the summer school are truly special in my opinion.
In the long-term, what do you think are the benefits of having attended Summer School?
I think the best long term benefit of the summer school would be the new friends I made throughout the experience. Not only did I meet great people from interstate, but once again I was surprised by the amount of people from my home university that I’d never really spoken too much, but became really close with over the month.
Summer School included a special Careers Day program which aims to help give students an idea of the kinds of career paths available to maths graduates in industry and private sector research areas. Do you feel better equipped to explore career options in the mathematical sciences after attending AMSI Summer School?
I found the careers day very helpful this year – it was great seeing all the non-academic avenues that your maths degree can take you, in companies and fields that I’d never heard of before but do really interesting work!
What advice would you give to someone who is considering applying for Summer School in 2026? Should they apply and why?
They should absolutely apply, I highly recommend this experience. It’s a really special month and the impact it has goes well beyond the maths you learn.
What are your current career ambitions in the mathematical sciences sector?
I’m still trying to figure this one out. Right now I’m deciding between continuing on and doing a PhD, or getting a job in the industry. There are a lot of pros and cons to both, and the careers day was certainly very helpful in giving me more information to work with. In the meantime there’s still a lot more soul searching to do in order to figure out what’s next for me.
How did connecting with the community at AMSI Summer School support your experience?
Being able to talk to everyone else and work through problems together was really helpful and it was nice learning about everyone else’s plans for the future.
Any other feedback/comments you would like to provide on the AMSI Travel Grant or AMSI Summer School 2025?
I’d like to thank AMSI and the sponsors for making this happen.