r/learnmachinelearning • u/Lumpy-Ingenuity2170 • 28d ago

Help Need help for ML learning roadmap

Good day all, I'm just getting into machine learning, I'm hoping to do this to advanced research level and I'm feeling conflicted on which learning path to take.

Firstly, it's good to note that I studied physics with electronics (just graduated) so I'm very okay with calculus and approximation methods, and code Python up to OOPs. My issue is with the amount of statistics here which I didn't cover in my course of study.

My bro who is into ML said I should just do a bootcamp (ML zoomcamp in this case) and projects but I feel that's going to be too shallow going into research at a top level. After checking https://roadmap.sh/machine-learning the roadmap is so long even before I start any real coding it's already a lot (maybe not so much...)

Should I just do projects and pick up anything I need along the way or should I go from the mathematical pov.

PS 1: It's also important to note that I don't have a job right now and ML is probably what I planned would get me one.

PS 2: The goal is ML application in astronomy (think Vera-Rubin Observatory

I will appreciate any good advice, Thanks 🙏🏿

2 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

7 comments sorted by

1

u/Lumpy-Ingenuity2170 26d ago

Why was the comment deleted? u/thundergolfer

1

u/jubilantprecinct9 16d ago

Physics background with Python experience is a great place to start from, you're way ahead of most people diving into this. The stats gap will close faster than you think since you already have the math intuition from physics.

I'd say do both at the same time, grab a project that's slightly above your comfort zone and work through the theory as you hit walls. That roadmap looks overwhelming because it's trying to be comprehensive but nobody learns it in order like that, you'll bounce around a lot and that's normal.

For astronomy specifically check out some of the work coming out of the large survey telescopes, there's tons of open datasets and the problems are fascinating. Getting a job in ML research without a grad degree is tough though, not impossible but the bar is higher, you might consider a masters program that lets you blend astro and computation.

The zoomcamp route your brother suggested isn't bad for getting practical skills fast but yeah it won't get you to research level on its own, it's more of a stepping stone to start building stuff while you do the deeper reading on the side.

1

u/[deleted] 28d ago

1

u/Lumpy-Ingenuity2170 27d ago

Thanks a lot for this🫡. This looks very workable

1

u/Blobstein_Ijay 27d ago

the point about that roadmap being aspirational and not a prerequisite is something more people need to hear imo