Entering the world of AI research
Alex Antic: How did you go from graduating with a PhD in machine learning and bioinformatics at the University of Cambridge to becoming a leading researcher at DeepMind – one of the leading AI research laboratories in the world?
Petar Veličković: I was born and raised in Belgrade in Serbia, where I completed my primary and secondary education. It was a given at the time for Serbian students who were really interested in natural sciences to attend the Mathematical Grammar School in Belgrade. Even if you were more adept at physics or computer science, like myself, it was still kind of a given that you go through the full curriculum of mathematics that’s offered there. It offers you the same level of education you would receive in some parts of a first or second year of an undergraduate degree.
It prepared me really well for everything that came after that. Using that knowledge, I was able to attend Trinity College in Cambridge...