Science Foundation Ireland 1 Careers

Explore career opportunities focused on Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths

Science Foundation Ireland (SFI) is the national foundation for investment in research in the areas of STEM, which assists in the development and competitiveness of industry, enterprise, and employment in Ireland. We also promote and support STEM education and engagement to improve awareness and understanding of the value of research to society and to support the STEM careers pipeline.

Web Developer Ronan Doherty

Electronic Engineer Shane Callanan

Physicist Dr Arlene O'Neill

Mechanical Engineer Gillian Cagney

Catherine Ahearn, Data Scientist

Catherine Ahearn is a Data Scientist. Her job involves researching various mathematical and machine learning techniques, and writing code to create predictive models using large amounts of data.

Hi, Ask me a question...

Who are the people who most influenced your career direction?

I don't think any one thing influenced my career direction the most; several things helped me to narrow down what I wanted to do as I went along. An interest in maths and a curiosity for how computers worked led me to do a degree in computer science, with an optional honours maths stream. While doing my degree, I found out that data science and machine learning were areas I was interested in because of the maths involved

Describe a typical day?

A typical day can vary a lot, but generally consists of activities such as writing code, analyzing data, and researching and applying machine learning and mathematical techniques. However, we follow the Agile working process, so every day there are standup meetings where everyone gives an update on what they've been working on, and every other week we have planning and review meetings

What are the main tasks and responsibilities?

My main responsibilities are based around data science and machine learning. I research various mathematical and machine learning techniques, and write code to create predictive models using large amounts of data. These models have to perform well, both in terms of speed and how 'good' the model is at predicting, and so improving performance is another important part of the job. I have found that so far, logic and problem solving skills have been very important for my job. Finding out why something isn't performing as expected is a large part of my work. Skills in mathematics and programming have also proved essentials for researching and for writing code.

What do you like most?

I get to work on unique and interesting problems in an area I have a strong interest in. Getting to work on engaging machine learning problems means that I never get bored

Is there anything that isn't great?

Lots of challenges come with working with big data. Performance and scaling problems can be tough, and finding bugs can be frustrating at times, but it is very rewarding when all of the work finally comes together.

What is your education to date?

BSc. Computer Science & Information Technology (NUIG)

What aspects of your education have proven most important for your job?

Getting involved with internships while in college has definitely proven to be the most useful. My placement in Altocloud gave me a great interest in machine learning and data science, as well as great hands-on learning experience in the field. I even had the chance to contribute to the Altocloud blog, for this I did a piece about the area I focused on during the placement, i.e. Machine Learning. You can view the blog here! I enjoyed this placement so much I came back after graduating from college!

Does your job allow you to have a lifestyle you are happy with?

My job allows me to have a good work life balance. Flexi time allows me to work at hours that suit my lifestyle, and I can always come in earlier on a particular day if I need to leave earlier. Because most of my work is done on a computer, there are options to work from home as well if you aren’t able to come into work on a particular day. The atmosphere in the office is very friendly and relaxed which really goes a long way I think.

What advice would you give to someone considering this job?

If you’re unsure of whether or not you’ll like the area you’re thinking of studying in, try some beginner online courses or lessons such as those on Coursera. Trying out things that you mightn’t have had much exposure to in school, like coding, can really help you decide if it’s for you.

What kinds of work experience would provide a good background for this position?

For those interested in data science, any work experience in the area would be useful. Experience with software development, statistics, probability or machine learning would all help. Get involved in internships while in college if you can.

What is your current job title?