Meet Andreas Alfons

I studied Applied Mathematics. The difference between high school mathematics and university mathematics was larger than I anticipated, and I initially struggled with the transition. It took me about a year to catch up and find my footing. From my second year onwards, however, things began to go much more smoothly.

Inspiration from family values and community

Many people have inspired me along the way. First and foremost, my parents. They came from a working-class background and did not have access to higher education, as they had to earn money from an early age. Attending university was simply not an option for them. Nevertheless, they encouraged both me and my brother to pursue education and to embrace lifelong learning.

Another important source of inspiration has been the open-source software community. These communities create websites and apps built by and for the community, with the freedom to adapt and modify as one wishes. This is in contrast to proprietary products, which are usually delivered by companies without transparency about how they work. Academic life is, in many ways, similar to this. You need the freedom to develop your own ideas and to build upon the work of others.

‘Knowledge only has real value if we also share it with the next generation.’

Road to Erasmus School of Economics

I eventually found my way to Erasmus School of Economics after meeting Patrick Groenen at a summer conference. At that time, he was not the dean yet but a professor at the Econometric Institute. He mentioned that they had an open position. Although I had not been actively looking for a new role, I applied, and the rest followed from there.

What I enjoy most about my work is the research. Yet for me, research and teaching are inseparable. As academics, our task is to generate knowledge, but that knowledge only has real value if we also share it with the next generation. My research focuses on developing methods in data analysis, statistics, and machine learning that can be applied across a broad range of circumstances. Unsurprisingly, my favourite course to teach was closely related to this research. For example, I particularly enjoyed discussing with students how to handle outliers or how to deal with missing data.

Erasmus School of Economics is quite different from the institution where I studied, Vienna University of Technology. One clear distinction is the applied focus here. Internships and company case studies are part of the curriculum for many students. For instance, students can combine their master’s thesis with an internship. The level of support is also higher. As a student, I often felt left to my own devices, whereas here students work with teaching assistants on exercises and receive much more guidance.

Advice for students

My outlook on life would be to avoid worrying about things beyond one’s control. It is easy to become consumed by negative thoughts, yet nothing good comes from that. Instead, I prefer to focus on what I can influence.