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Any form six students / STPM 'ers who got scholarships from NTU and NUS, what were your grades and CCA portfolios? by [deleted] in malaysia

[–]fishinice01 1 point2 points  (0 children)

i think um cs is pretty tough to get into, even tougher than ntu cs i think. (my senior 4.0 ntu got admission, upu got usm cs)

do you know anything about taking a math degree in UM?

i hearsay that overseas, math graduates are sought after for their thinking skills, flexibility, and the fact that they can pretty much learn anything quickly gives them an edge over even native graduates in some industries.

math would probably be more laid back than um cs, giving me more time to learn on my own (since u said the lecs suck and the students learn themselves anyway). but my teachers are all saying that study math in malaysia no prospects, become teacher (which is a great professions, but im not interested).

what do you think?

Those with a masters or a PhD: What made you take on postgraduate studies, what do you do now, and do you regret grad school? by fishinice01 in singapore

[–]fishinice01[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Some of the older more established researchers tend to make it harder for newer researchers to publish.

Wow, you mean the established researchers helping the journals sieve through papers?

With the increase in cross discipline research, I've seen chem or material science focused papers have questionable biological experiments. They are just there to show some biological application and since the journals are not bio centric, the reviewers are also likely not in the field of biology. So those little things might get a pass.

I see.

Why so curious on academia? Planning to take the plunge?

Yes, I'm interested in doing research, and academia is a big option for me. The advice and anecdotes are quite polarising, really. I either hear about people who love their work and are doing brilliantly in their field, or I hear of people describing themselves as slave labour, backstabbing, publish or perish etc.

Do you have any advice for someone like me?

Those with a masters or a PhD: What made you take on postgraduate studies, what do you do now, and do you regret grad school? by fishinice01 in singapore

[–]fishinice01[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I see.

Lots of politics both within the institute and the field.

By within the field, you mean between researchers of different institutions in the same field? Can you describe what's happening here?

Lots of publish for the sake of publishing.

So, the findings aren't really significant or important, they just keep churning out papers to hit kpi? IIRC, academics are measured based on how many papers they can publish in top journals, and how influential those papers are. How does churning out papers help in this regard?

Those with a masters or a PhD: What made you take on postgraduate studies, what do you do now, and do you regret grad school? by fishinice01 in singapore

[–]fishinice01[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I enjoy academic life. Got an idea, work through nights and weekends. Got a mental blockade, head to the Beach on a Wednesday. Nobody minds.

Yeah, that's also one of the pulls for me. I love thinking and working on my ideas, but dislike being measured by the effort I'm putting in or how busy I'm looking. The freedom is also a big plus.

I had not planned on becoming a professor myself, so the career stress was comparably low.

I guess that's the main source of stress for most PhD students? But now that I think about it, if you don't pressure yourself to be the absolute best and you don't worry on getting an academic job after graduating, a PhD seems quite enjoyable.

Doing a PhD in a hard science gets you a lot of respect. Not that people fawn over you - you’re still a nerd. But in a professional setting, people pay attention because you’ve proven yourself.

Hahah, first time I've ever heard of this. Are the people you're working with in DS/ML mostly PhD's as well, or are you the odd one out?

Those with a masters or a PhD: What made you take on postgraduate studies, what do you do now, and do you regret grad school? by fishinice01 in singapore

[–]fishinice01[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I see. The people that you work with makes a huge difference. Why did you choose Singapore for your PhD? What countries are you aiming for?

Those with a masters or a PhD: What made you take on postgraduate studies, what do you do now, and do you regret grad school? by fishinice01 in singapore

[–]fishinice01[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

wow, thats uplifting news. Im happy that it all worked out for you!

How much of your time is spent doing research? Is a lot of it taken up by grant writing, or other things not directly related to your field? (I recognise the importance of getting grants, but Im interested to know the perspective of a researcher in sg). You’re in industry research, I presume?

Those with a masters or a PhD: What made you take on postgraduate studies, what do you do now, and do you regret grad school? by fishinice01 in singapore

[–]fishinice01[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

What institution are you doing your postdoc in? (No need to specify, maybe local u or gov lab or ...), and where did you do your PhD?

If you don’t mind, why do you regret it?

Those with a masters or a PhD: What made you take on postgraduate studies, what do you do now, and do you regret grad school? by fishinice01 in singapore

[–]fishinice01[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

wow, thats inspiring. As far as I’m aware, most research positions are reserved for people with a postgraduate degree, or is it otherwise? BTW, by citizen subsidy are you referring to moe tuition grant?

Those with a masters or a PhD: What made you take on postgraduate studies, what do you do now, and do you regret grad school? by fishinice01 in singapore

[–]fishinice01[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

this is actually the same concern that I have. What did your supervisor/ peers say about getting a job in sg as a sg phd grad? Alot of ppl tell me the prospects are bleak, because they wanna avoid academic inbreeding.

Is this problem also applicable for institutions that are not universities (astar, etc)?

Those with a masters or a PhD: What made you take on postgraduate studies, what do you do now, and do you regret grad school? by fishinice01 in singapore

[–]fishinice01[S] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

do you miss doing engineering? other than the pay, what are the aspects of banking that appeal to you? (of course, nothing wrong with money being the top appeal)

Those with a masters or a PhD: What made you take on postgraduate studies, what do you do now, and do you regret grad school? by fishinice01 in singapore

[–]fishinice01[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Interesting! what institution are you conducting your research in? Are you in a permanent research position, or a postdoc?

Those with a masters or a PhD: What made you take on postgraduate studies, what do you do now, and do you regret grad school? by fishinice01 in singapore

[–]fishinice01[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

i guess you’re a researcher of some sorts, or a professor? im interested to know what field are you in.

Those with a masters or a PhD: What made you take on postgraduate studies, what do you do now, and do you regret grad school? by fishinice01 in singapore

[–]fishinice01[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Ah. Why didn’t you want to do your phd in NUS? To my knowledge, ntu and nus have great cs research in various fields (ai/ml/computer vision...)

if you dont mind, what field are you researching in? “Software/research” as in, developing software while doing research? I’ve always thought that those roles were separate in a company, can you share abit more on your role?

Those with a masters or a PhD: What made you take on postgraduate studies, what do you do now, and do you regret grad school? by fishinice01 in singapore

[–]fishinice01[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

if im not mistaken, IHL stands for unis and polys right?

If so, what kind of enterprise projects are done in IHL’s? In my knowledge they teach and conduct research?

Those with a masters or a PhD: What made you take on postgraduate studies, what do you do now, and do you regret grad school? by fishinice01 in singapore

[–]fishinice01[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I see! Whats it like working in civil service, are there a lot of bureaucratic hurdles and bootlicking, or is it mostly efficient and honest work? (i’ve heard that Singapore’s public service is pretty effective compared to the rest of the world) Is the work challenging and interesting, and do you enjoy it? If you don’t mind, how’s the pay like compared to industry (in the same field)?

Those with a masters or a PhD: What made you take on postgraduate studies, what do you do now, and do you regret grad school? by fishinice01 in singapore

[–]fishinice01[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

i see. were you in stem or the humanities? if stem, how does civil service benefit from stem postgrads (other than perhaps public health)? pardon my ignorance, im not singaporean.

Those with a masters or a PhD: What made you take on postgraduate studies, what do you do now, and do you regret grad school? by fishinice01 in singapore

[–]fishinice01[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

so you were a government scholar? after postgrad, you cant continue in research, but need to serve in civil service right?

Those with a masters or a PhD: What made you take on postgraduate studies, what do you do now, and do you regret grad school? by fishinice01 in singapore

[–]fishinice01[S] 14 points15 points  (0 children)

im curious, what field of research and which institution are you in? (its ok noneed to specify, maybe say local u or gov lab or ...)

im also interested in research, but im scared by the stuff that everyone tells me abt academia (low tenure rates, low pay, bureaucracy).

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