Lucia Filippozzi

Her opinion

What’s your name and where are you from?

My name is Lucia. I am Italian, I grew up in a small countryside village in the province of Verona, but I lived for five years in Trento during my Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees.
What did you study before the master?

Before pursuing my Master’s degree, I studied mathematics in the Bachelor’s program at the University of Trento.
Why did you choose this master?

I was looking for something that combined mathematical formalism with the potential for real-world applications. When I discovered the existence of this specific program - in particular, the track in Mathematics for Data Science -, it seemed like the perfect fit. And it was!
What do you consider to be the strong points of the master?

I believe one of the strongest points of the Master is the wide range of courses one can choose from. Whether your interest lies more in biomedical applications, mathematical finance, complex biological systems, or data analysis, by selecting the appropriate track within this program, you would have the opportunity to delve into each of these fields. Another key strength, in my opinion, is the relatively small class sizes of this master’s program. This means that you get the opportunity to directly interact with professors, creating excellent chances to build connections and really delve into their expertise and research areas.
What did you like about the masters?

It’s challenging for me to answer this question, mainly because at that time, during my years in the master’s program, I would have simply said that I enjoyed the environment and the opportunity to interact with people that felt passionate about the same things I did. However, right now, I feel more capable of offering a broader perspective, and I would say that after having worked in research, I actually believe that the education provided in Trento has been truly remarkable. Some courses were designed not to give you detailed knowledge but, in my opinion, to equip you with as much general information as possible. This way, if you ever find yourself studying or getting passionate about a specific research field, you have all the tools to delve deeper into what you want. Other courses were more technical and specific. Furthermore, when I took some courses, many exams were in the form of homework - projects with tight deadlines. At first, I wasn’t thrilled about it, but I must say that they taught me a lot: they helped me to approach the subject with a different perspective, more focused on real-world problems, and prepared me for handling multiple deadlines, a common occurrence in a professional research setting.

Interacting with people from other countries or different Italian universities, I also realized that receiving this kind of education was not that common and I really feel this made a difference in my job as a researcher in academia.
What did you do immediately after the master?

During the last semester of my Master degree, I had the opportunity to do an internship in a research center in Bilbao (BCAM - Basque Center for Applied Mathematics) to conduct a research project in Machine Learning. Right after this, while I was still writing my master’s thesis, I started working in the same organization as a full-time researcher.
What are you doing right now in terms of work?

Currently, I am working as a full-time researcher at BCAM - Basque Center for Applied Mathematics (in Bilbao - Spain) in the Machine Learning group. But soon, I will start a PhD at the University of Trento in collaboration with FBK and BCAM, as well.

Would you recommend the Masters to someone? To whom in particular?

If you feel passionate about Mathematics but at the same time you would like to dive deeper into real-life problems and applications, then I would totally recommend this Master! I am confident you will enjoy it and have the chance to build great connections with your fellow students, as well as some researchers and professors.