Sabrina Ostanek, UP FAMNIT

General

Sabrina Ostanek obtained her master’s degree at UP FAMNIT in the study programme Mathematics with Financial Engineering.

Already during her studies and immediately after graduation, she gained experience in the insurance sector, where she worked as a financial mathematician responsible for various data analyses that are essential for the development of insurance products. She is highly familiar with this field, as her master’s thesis focused on data mining in insurance.

She is currently employed as a professional associate at University of Primorska Faculty of Mathematics, Natural Sciences and Information Technologies, where she assists with the editing of mathematical articles for the scientific journals Ars Mathematica Contemporanea (AMC), published in cooperation with the Society of Mathematicians, Physicists and Astronomers of Slovenia (DMFA), the Institute of Mathematics, Physics and Mechanics (IMFM), and the Slovenian Society for Discrete and Applied Mathematics (SDAMS), as well as the journal The Art of Discrete and Applied Mathematics (ADAM), which is also published in cooperation with SDAMS.

As part of her editorial work, she ensures the timely publication of issues throughout the year and facilitates smooth and efficient communication with authors.

Her passion is music, which she has been involved with since childhood in her free time. She plays the piano and also sings, and in previous years she performed with the En Big Band.

Since June 2022, Sabrina Ostanek has served as the President of the Alumni Club of University of Primorska Faculty of Mathematics, Natural Sciences and Information Technologies, with a term lasting until June 2026.

How and why did you decide to study at FAMNIT?

After completing my undergraduate studies at the Faculty of Mathematics and Physics in Ljubljana, I knew I wanted to continue with a master’s degree, but I also wanted to experience studying at a different faculty.

Since I had heard many positive things about FAMNIT and its professors from former students, and because I myself come from the Primorska region, FAMNIT was almost a natural choice for me.

What do you like most about your work, and how do you feel about working in the field of mathematics?

What I like most about working at FAMNIT, or in the field of mathematics in general, is the precision of the work. I like knowing what the exact result is. The work environment is organized, and that suits me very well.

How do you see mathematics as an opportunity for career development, and what would you recommend to young people considering studying mathematics?

Young people who decide to study mathematics have many opportunities in a wide range of fields, both in academia and in industry. Nowadays, most companies are focused on digitalizing their operations and processing large amounts of data in order to obtain valuable insights. There is certainly no shortage of jobs in this area. I would recommend that mathematics students, if they have the opportunity, try to gain some practical work experience during their studies—perhaps through summer jobs or internships. This can make finding employment after graduation much easier, as they will already have a better idea of what truly interests them.

You are also the president of the UP FAMNIT Alumni Club. What is your vision for the UP FAMNIT Alumni Club? How do you think we could better connect former FAMNIT graduates?

I think it is important to attract as many faculties graduates as possible to the UP FAMNIT Alumni Club. Many former FAMNIT graduates are employed in various companies that are looking for qualified staff, or they may even be founders of their own companies and in need of talented employees. I believe this presents a great opportunity to invite them to participate in the Alumni Club. In this way, we could help create connections among people who may be looking for new career opportunities. Of course, it is also important for the Alumni Club to occasionally meet in the form of informal social gatherings, and we are already planning one for the end of this year.

And what are your plans for the future?

I only started my current position about six months ago. My short-term goal is to do my work as well as possible, ensure that the AMC and ADAM journals run as smoothly as possible, and learn as much as I can in the process. As for the future, I’m open to surprises 🙂