- From Department of Mathematics
- From Graduate School of Mathematics
- Doctoral Long-term Internship Program
Doctoral Long-term Internship Program
Background and Objectives
In 2006, the Kyushu University Graduate School of Mathematics began a long-term (three months or more) internship program for Ph. D. students in the Functional Mathematics course of the doctoral program. A total of 24 students have so far completed this program, 9 students each in 2006 and 2007 and 6 students in 2008. In general, an internship is a system that enables students to experience corporate research and business practices as an intern. In the School of Engineering, they have had an internship program in which third-year undergraduate students and first-year master-course students become interns for a period of two weeks to one month during their summer holidays. In contrast, students in mathematics have usually been indifferent to corporate internships, but in recent years, the demand for mathematicians in the world of manufacturing, information communications, and finance has been increasing, and about half of all students completing the Master of Mathematics course now go on to employment in the private sector. In addition, while advances in computers have made it possible to solve mathematical problems by simulation, there is still a demand for mathematically trained professionals who can get inside the inner structure of “black-box” simulators to improve the reliability of computed results and the efficiency of calculations. Students of the Functional Mathematics course are slated to meet this demand, and in addition to developing a sense of the universality of mathematics and a robust and logical way of thinking through their math courses, they are also working to attune themselves to the real world through this internship program. Furthermore, by viewing mathematics from a real-world perspective, it is anticipated that interns will come to appreciate the value of mathematics and that of studying mathematics and will reflect their real-world insights in later research.
Preparations
Taking sports as an example, a student who is good at mathematics might be compared to a fast athlete. However, while the ability to move fast gives the athlete an edge in just about any kind of competition, mathematics by itself is not sufficient in the real world. Thus, to help students recognize what is lacking before they set out on an internship, people from the corporate world are invited to talk about the role of mathematics in business and industry and the frame of mind that an intern should adopt. Communication skills are also a requirement considering that problem solving in the corporate world is usually carried out by teams. Accordingly, interns are required to have a good command of presentation, spreadsheet, and word-processing software in addition to programming skills such as the C language.
In a company, specialists in various fields work together to solve problems.
Results
Participating companies and intern specialties over the last three years are summarized below. (Numbers in parentheses indicate number of students.)
| Participating companies | ING Insurance, Ube Industries (2), NTT (5), Nippon Steel Corporation, Zetta Technology, DIC (2), TOSHIBA (4), Nisshin Fire & Marine Insurance, IBM Japan, Panasonic, Hitachi, Ltd. (2), FUJITSU, MAZDA, Mitsui Engineering and Shipbuilding |
|---|---|
| Intern specialties | Statistical mathematics (5), numerical analysis (3), operator algebra theory (3), fluid dynamics (2), algebraic geometry (2), computational theory, game theory, probability theory, mathematical physics, differential geometry, topology, number theory, representation theory, combinatorics |
Impressions of Interns and Mentors
The following are typical of comments made by interns and mentors in the internship program.
- My outlook broadened by interacting with people that I had never come in contact with before in the world of mathematics and by encountering research fields I would have never known about. This has become a big asset for me.
- It hit me how useful mathematics could be in the real world.
- I realized that being comfortable around formulas as opposed to resisting them is the strength of true mathematicians. I also found out that without skills to explain mathematics and get others to understand its effect, it probably would not be accepted in the corporate world.
- I felt a sense of solidarity with the people around me and a sense of responsibility in my work that I could never feel in everyday life. This was a great experience for me.
- I admired the tenacity and organizing power that drove the experiments and data analysis in the company.
- I admired the intern’s positive attitude in trying to understand the essence of a problem even in areas outside of his specialty. I was also surprised at the intern’s highly intuitive ability toward formulas and numbers.
- The intern’s ability to comprehend and discern was superb enabling him to complete the internship project quickly and correctly. His explanations were also very easy to understand, which was much appreciated.
- I came to realize that basic skills in mathematics will be even more of a necessity for developing advanced technology in the years to come. That is, I came to realize again the importance of mathematics in technology development.
In addition to these impressions, the optimistic, cheery attitude of the interns reveals a high level of satisfaction and self-confidence. Even greater results can be expected if an intern works on improving programming and presentation skills. In 2008, a student skilled in statistics passed a one-hour-plus telephone interview in English after doing a half-year internship in English at a foreign-affiliated enterprise. The need for mathematics education that can contribute to industry is beginning to be realized in Europe as well, and an international conference in this regard is being held this year in Portugal. Developments such as these reflect the dramatic changes taking place in the world of mathematics. It’s the Graduate School of Mathematics at Kyushu University that is quickly responding and adapting to these changes.
