Ask HN: how to get into a data analysis / machine learning career?

Hi all,

I'm currently a PhD student in materials science working on a polymer microfabrication-oriented project. Initially I was very interested in this project but my enthusiasm level plummeted rapidly. I've stuck it out a few years partly through wanting to finish what I started and partly, I'm ashamed to say, through inertia.

However, over the past year I've also been involved in a side project which has involved some pretty interesting data analysis (some complex image analysis and analysis of fluorescence time series), and it's like night and day. Science is fun and my work is exciting again.

And it's not just this side project: I'm learning R in my spare time, and reading through course material from Andrew Ng's Stanford machine learning course. I also did some analytical work as an undergrad which I really enjoyed, but I felt like I was commited to the microfab path. I'm really regretting that decision now.

I'd love to be able to push my current research more in an analytical direction but that's...unlikely, to say the least. And while leaving the program would be a really bitter pill to swallow, so would spending three more years on a project I don't like, and feeling even more committed to the work after I got a damn PhD in it.

My question is, does anyone have any suggestions for how I might do a course correction towards analytical work after a BS in Physics and years in a microfab PhD program? Should I be trying to take classes in statistics or CS? Are there "entry-level" jobs in this kind of thing I could qualify for?

Note: I realize this is not necessarily a HN kind of thing, but I see machine learning and data-oriented discussion here fairly often and it seemed like a good place to ask. Pointers towards more information or other communities are welcome.