WHAT SHOULD BE MY GRADE TO STUDY SCIENCE?
Q I am interested in taking science stream with biology and mathematics. How much percentage is required for science stream and what are the benefits of selecting science stream?
A STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) is the stream of studying the more ‘technical’ side of education, and a highly valuable one to pursue. STEM subjects are not only incredibly versatile but they also provide you with academic rigor and critical thinking skills that prove to be useful no matter what profession you choose. As the world becomes increasingly dominated by technology, the potential for these subjects is nearly limitless – having such skills will make you invaluable to companies and industries that are increasingly valuing people with technical expertise.
Biology and mathematics come together to form a discipline called biomathematics, which applies mathematical modeling to analyse biological processes. Biomathematics helps us understand the growth of living organisms such as plants, as well as medical phenomena such as tumors.
Bio mathematicians are usually employed by the healthcare, human genetics and pharmaceutical industries. A related field, bioinformatics is the computer aided analysis of information in medicine or biology. As the healthcare industry increases its research in human cells, bioinformatics is critical in finding the genetic details necessary for much of this research.
This interdisciplinary field also opens up some surprising areas of employment. A niche area is the quest to finding habitable environments on a variety of planets different from ours. Although it sounds like a movie, the field of astrobiology is real and combines biology math and astronomy. As you can guess, NASA is the largest employer in this field as we continue our search for habitable environments that aren’t Earth.
Bioengineering is another field that opens up. It combines research of medical issues with engineering concepts to innovate new procedures and products. Products such as prosthetics, artificial organs and other devices that we place in our bodies have all come out of this field. A vast and deep area for innovation, bioengineering is a growth industry for years to come.
Research jobs in variety of related fields can also come about from studying these subjects. For instance, biophysics, which studies the biological process controlled by scientific principles. The effects of protein on muscle, effects of virus on cell and so on is the scope of of this field. Along with biophysics is bio-statistics, which examines statistics about biological and agricultural processes to arrive at scientific conclusions. For example, when we say that a certain pill is advantageous for lowering cholesterol, that finding is done with help of solid statistics drawn from several data sources – all of which falls under the field of bio-statistics.
As we can see, science is such a versatile stream that just the options of studies are numerous, with an even larger number of jobs opening up. To study this and excel, focus on your academics - this is a field that values grades highly and you should be ready for the discipline that comes with pursuing such studies.