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It's a surprisingly common occurrence - scientists and mathematicians leaving academia to pursue jobs in financial markets. And while part of the move is the result of a tight scientific job market, part is due to the fact that many of the skills learned in one field can be applied to other fields as well. It's a growing field with many names, from computational finance to quantitative analysis. Many workers in the field do have traditional economics or finance backgrounds. Companies are learning, though, that scientists trained in how to simulate scientific systems (from biological populations to superconductors) can also develop simulations of how markets may move. Statisticians can be useful in managing investment risks. Even chaos theory can be used to try to beat the odds in the market. And so, many scientists are finding a comfortable home not in the lab, but in the trading rooms of the world. On this hour of Science Friday, an untraditional career for scientists - trading instead of testtubes, and bucks instead of bosons. Plus - a rescue mission for a stranded satellite.
Guests: Iraj Kani Mark Skidmore Books/Articles Discussed: Related Links: Journal of Computational Finance Stats on employment of physicists in finance (from AIP) Carnegie
Mellon University Stranded satellite info |
