Joel, PhD student in mathematics at Uppsala University

Where do you come from?
- I grew up outside Stockholm

What kind of education did you have before you started your research studies?
- I studied a bachelor and a master in mathematics at Uppsala University before. During the master's degree, I also did an exchange semester at ENS Lyon in France.

How long do you have left on your doctoral position?
- I am in my last semester and will defend my thesis this spring.

Describe your research briefly and as popularised as possible.
- My research has mainly been in fluid mechanics. There I have worked with models for how waves behave. In particular, I have studied what happens when the waves become higher and a kind of tip is formed at the top.

What makes your research interesting and what can it mean in the long run?
- Fluid mechanics has many applications, such as studying air resistance of cars and developing better climate models. However, the research I am involved in should probably be seen as basic research. The models and questions that I work with are not directly related to application areas. The hope is that by learning more about these systems, we may gain knowledge that can later be useful also when studying models with more clear links to applications.

A doctoral position consists to some extent of being a teacher as well. What courses do you teach and what is it like?
- Most of my teaching has been as a lecturer in the course Ordinary Differential Equations I, which is mainly taken by students in the bachelor's programmes in mathematics and physics. I have now lectured on the course for four years and it has been incredibly rewarding for me. Especially the opportunity to develop the course during these years has been a lot of fun.

How would you describe your daily work?
- It has varied a lot during my five years. Now in the last year I am not taking any courses and most weeks I have no more than 2-3 scheduled things, mainly teaching and research seminars. This gives me a lot of freedom, but also a lot of responsibility to prioritise my time correctly. Usually I have 1-2 major projects I work on during a given time. My goal is usually to get 2 hours of dedicated time in the morning and afternoon to work on these. The main project right now is writing the introduction to my thesis. This means no new research, I already have the results from my previous articles, but it is the actual writing that needs to be done. I also have an article I am working on, where the focus right now is on finalising the computer calculations needed for the proofs. The rest is often a mixture of smaller things that I need to get done, including preparing teaching, answering emails and keeping up to date with new research articles.

What makes you want to do research in mathematics and what is the best part of the job?
- I like the idea of creating new knowledge that drives humanity forward. Although much research in mathematics, including my own, does not always have direct applications, it contributes to the body of knowledge. For this reason, I am very much driven to pass on what I have learned to others, by writing articles, giving seminars and developing programmes that others can use. One of the best things about the job is the amount of freedom you get. Mathematics does not (usually) require labs or experiments, you are free to jump between areas as you wish.

What do you want to do after graduation and where do you see yourself in ten years?
- In the autumn I will start as a postdoc at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis, where I will spend three years and continue on the same track in my research. The hope is to be able to stay in academia after Minnesota, but this is not a given. If I apply outside academia, I would probably focus on programming jobs, my research has involved a lot of programming and that is something I enjoy.

What do you think about Uppsala University and Uppsala?
- I have lived in Uppsala for almost 11 years and have enjoyed it immensely. There is a rich student life to participate in and everything is within cycling distance.

Do you have any advice for those thinking of applying for a doctoral position?
- Be prepared that it takes at least a year before you start to feel comfortable with the work.