About

Paola Elefante

Hi, I am Paola.

I would describe myself as a positive-minded, enthusiastic, and sociable person. I like to make the best of situations I live in. I am not afraid to commit and, quoting my beloved husband, when I set my mind on something, I get to the bottom of it.

I can focus on single tasks, but I believe you achieve brilliant results (and happiness) just if you keep an open mind to the vastness of opportunities. This is why I care about different things, in my job and not only. I am keen on improving my communication skills, working in close contact with people, and contributing to a common goal.

I completed my studies in theoretical mathematics at University of Bologna (Italy), moved to Finland in 2010 to pursue my Licentiate Degree in Applied Mathematics. I'm currently working as Digital Scaling Project Manager at Plan International.

I am a "serial fixer" and I love to build structures where I don't see any. What drives me is helping people.

Some of my personal goals include:

  • contribute to the world in an impactful way in progress
  • improve communication in science: (personally) check, hopefully it's working for others as well
  • build a local network for women in science: check
  • start working in Finnish language & getting Finnish citizenship:check
  • (new!) learning basics of Swedish language in progress

You can download my CV from here: CV updated Feb 2019.

Check out this section for my programming and data analysis portfolio (outdated).

Past professional memberships

Finnish Inverse Problems Society (FIPS)
The Finnish Mathematical Society
European Women in Mathematics
The Helsinki Association of Women Researchers
Society of Industrial and Applied Mathematics (SIAM)
Association for Women in Mathematics (AWM)
Association of Doctoral Students of the University of Helsinki