TITLE: Is computer algebra or symbolic computation an active area of research?
QUESTION [13 upvotes]: I'm interested in doing  PhD in computer algebra or symbolic computation, and was wondering if this is an active area of research? Would this area of research also help me in the transition to industry after my PhD? I'm also based in the USA.
I apologize if this question is kind of "bare", I'm a  PhD student at a university that does computer algebra, and I just want to know what I'm getting into. Thanks!

REPLY [7 votes]: Just answering to your question in the title: computer algebra is definitely an active area of research! For example, there is a huge research program across several German universities funded by the DFG (German version of the NSF): https://www.computeralgebra.de/sfb/ and https://oscar.computeralgebra.de/. Among all those people involved I’m sure you’ll find someone you know (by name) or who’s doing what you’re interested in.