A PhD program is not really a test, it challenges how you communicate with people, how you manage your time, and how you plan your experiments. It is a really comprehensive process.
Final day at UCB, in front of the Doe library – Always missing the days study here
Can You Tell Us a Little Bit About Yourself?
I am now a second year PhD student in Materials Science and Engineering at Carnegie Mellon University (CMU). My undergraduate schooling was in China at ShanghaiTech University. Currently, my research focus at CMU is on biosensors and material-neuronal interfaces. But interestingly enough, my background in China and at UC Berkeley was mainly in the areas of computational engineering/sciences. I have switched to the experimental side of research for my PhD because that area attracts me more.
For my personal life, the PhD life is really busy. I try to make an effort to find some time for myself. Pittsburg has a lot of good restaurants that I can go to, and I also like cooking and baking cakes at home when I have time.
What inspired you to choose the major that you are in? What still excites you about your major?
When we talk about “Materials Science and Engineering”, it is really a broad map, which really includes so many attractive areas. For example, CMU has a strong background in metallic materials because Pittsburgh is well-known as “the city of Steel”, and the tie between materials and artificial intelligence is tight and mind blowing. Meanwhile, UC Berkeley has many pioneer researchers on electrochemistry, whose state-of-art works are really fascinating as well. This is why this major is interesting – you will have many choices! It is also a combination of many different majors such as chemistry, physics, biology and computer science. I changed my research interest from computational/simulation to experimental. This does not mean that I do not like computational material, I want to explore more opportunities in this major.
What prompted you to come to UC Berkeley and be a member of the GLOBE family?
It was my honor to study as an exchange student at UC Berkeley for one year. The reason why I chose Berkeley is because I had the education background in China, but I haven’t experienced American education at the college level, like how the courses are set up, what is the teaching style, how the students’ life is like here. UC Berkeley is a top school in engineering, which is an outstanding place for exploring the new culture, that is why I applied for it.
What were your experiences at UC Berkeley and being a part of GLOBE?
It was really very different from ShanghaiTech. I would talk about the courses first. I selected the computer science course here: CS 61A intro to programming, which is outside of my major in materials science and engineering. I really learned a lot from this class. It changed my mind about coding and helped me build up interest in computer science and enhanced my programming skills. In CS 61A, l do not feel stressed out with coding as I used to feel, since the course is designed to ramp up and all the teaching assistants were very welcoming and helpful. There was even one-on-one help in the class to help students overcome challenges in coding. It really inspires me and changed my mind about teaching and learning. It was not just gaining knowledge in the class, it was an exploration and experiencing a journey.
From the research perspective, I was working with Dr. Matthew Sherburne on research. I worked on kinetic modeling for catalytic reactions. It was a collaboration between UC Berkeley, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), and National University of Singapore (NUS). The research from CNRS focused on experimental parts, while UC Berkeley and NUS focused on the computational parts. Dr. Sherburne gave me a lot of good advice and suggested many useful textbooks and papers to start the project. It inspired me a lot since I learned that it was possible to learn from scratch and it is a really valuable memory.
UC Berkeley is a really really large school compared with CMU. When I first came to Berkeley, I was surprised about the campus size. One funny memory is that I remember there were dogs and pets to help reduce stress at Sather Gate. I thought the dogs were really cute! There were many clubs and activities that you can be involved in. I think this was something that is very appealing about Berkeley.
Why did you decide to go to graduate school instead of the industry? How and when did you decide? Do you think you should decide earlier? Why or why not?
I decided to go to graduate school as soon as I got into undergraduate and majored in Materials Science and Engineering. Some people might have a very clear idea about their path in highschool or even earlier. Those folks are really lucky, but I think it is not too late to decide later in college.
Also, I think I need to learn more and experience more before I can go into industry. I feel like if I go straight into industry after undergraduate, then I will be limited by the nature of work I am able to do and the autonomy I have in choosing and doing my projects. That is not my ultimate goal for my career. My goal is that I want to learn more and help myself to form my own projects and lead my own group in the future.
What is your ultimate career goal?
My ultimate career goal is to focus on healthcare areas where I can solve some real-world problems, such as the treatment of Parkinson’s disease. The number of elderly is growing as society’s population ages. Therefore, I want to spend more time exploring and helping solve health-related issues. In addition, I think it is really interesting to work in an area where my projects can help many people.
What keeps you enthusiastic about your work?
When I know other people can benefit from my work, I feel very happy. I will try to do what I can to help others. Also, I like learning new things and new knowledge. Whenever I figure out the model and how the experiment works, I will feel very proud of myself.
How many recommendations do grad schools need for application? Who are the best people to write these recommendations?
I think normally, there will be 3 letters required. I got two letters from my advisors in ShanghaiTech from Dr. Lin and Dr. Lee, and one letter from my advisor, Dr. Sherburne at UC Berkeley. There was an opportunity where I could receive a letter from a “big name” professor whom I did a summer project with in Berkeley. However, I did not end up asking for it because I think it is more persuasive to have the people who really know you to write your letters. My advice is to find your advisors who know you the best and ask them to write the letters. It seems really fantastic to get letters from big name professors, but they might not know you very well. Also, it will be great if each of your letters will cover your different aspects, like research performance, course performance, and even volunteering performance.
Is it okay to have imperfect grades when applying to grad school?
Yeah, definitely. My GPA was okay, but not perfect. The key point is knowing your own strength. My strength was that I had a lot of undergraduate research experiences, so I could prove that I had problem-solving skills and self-learning skills. A perfect GPA cannot show how well your research skills are or that you were a good researcher. I would like to say that GPA is important, but it is not only one way to evaluate a student. Finding what makes you special and highlights those strengths will be really helpful in application.
Any personal suggestions that you want to share given your application experience? How to be more competitive as an applicant retrospectively?
I think one really important thing is to write down all the details of all the things you have experienced, and modify it for each application. I wrote really detailed descriptions of every research and every social experience. For my application, I may not use all of these experiences, but I can have these to pick and choose from. Second, have different application materials for different schools. Every school has different research topics they are really specialized in. I recommend you to contact the professor of interest as early as possible and proactively build up the connection. Active students are always welcomed!
What do you advise international students during this trying time?
I think that the most challenging issue I faced was language and communication problems. I was really shy to speak English in front of other people because I did not want to make a mistake. But I was inspired by my language mentor that everyone makes mistakes and we shouldn’t be afraid. Others will not judge you from your language, grammar, and pronunciation. So I recommend students who have the same challenges to keep trying and make connections with others. This will lead to a huge progress. It is okay to be shy, but just be brave to take baby steps outside of your comfort zone.
How was your experience with undergraduate research in UC Berkeley?
Dr. Sherburne is really nice. He gave me a really new project where no one in the lab was working on it. At the beginning, he recommended a great textbook and papers and provided me with the basic knowledge for the project. It is pretty cool to build up your own stuff from scratch. The research project resulted in a publication in the Journal of the American Chemical Society (JACS) (DOI: 10.1021/jacs.9b06824) . I think Dr. Sherburne is really kind with all the students in his class and he would extensively help them with the class projects.
Did Berkeley faculty offer help through your graduate application process? If so, how?
I talked to a professor before my applications about more details such as how do I structure my SOPs, and who is better for my recommendation letters. I also attended a graduation information meeting held by faculty members and graduate students in Berkeley about how to apply to graduate school. They provided me with information about things you need to highlight in your SOP and personal statement ,how important your grades are, and how important your TOEFL scores are. They are really really helpful.
How was your experience with GLOBE?
I arrived later at Berkeley than other students, so it was a pity that I missed some of the orientation sessions. However, I know GLOBE offers a lot of help on how students can get along with their lives and helps students to overcome their challenges when they are in a new country and culture. There was also a package for students to celebrate the New Year that I thought was really heart-felt.
Should you talk with the professors about funding during Ph.D. application? If so, how?
Personally I did not talk about funding, which is a bit tricky for international students. If you have your own funding for PhD schools, I recommend you send emails to inform the schools so they would reconsider your application. In other words, if you get a scholarship or fellowships, just directly talk to the grad school committee or PIs so you have a higher chance of getting admitted.
What is your life like as a Ph.D. student? How many hours per week does the average student in the lab work?
I think PhD life is very interesting and very challenging. I particularly struggled in my last semester as it was a transition period for me. I passed my qualification tests and transitioned from a fresh new student to a PhD candidate. To overcome the stressful stage, I spoke with my colleagues and my friends and realized that everyone has experienced it at some point. (That is how challenging the PhD career is!) Some students can handle it really well as they can have a positive perspective to the problems. But sometimes,people like myself, keep struggling for a long time, which is also all right . Everyone has their own pace and learning curve and a little stress is not a bad thing – depending on how you handle it. However, a lot of stress will result in mental health issues. For PhD it challenges how you communicate with people, how you manage your time, and how you plan your career. It is a really comprehensive process and not a single test.
If you are considering pursuing a PhD degree, but are hesitant, then just apply. PhD is a very unique stage where one can really focus on something and dive deep into a subject which others have little understanding of.
I used to have a time tracker to track my routine. On average, I work 8-9 hours/day on lab work during the weekdays, and 4-5 hours/day on weekends. Sometimes, there are 10-12 hours work days, but sometimes there are relaxing times. Last week, I was trying to get all the required data for my manuscript, which was a hard time for me. This week though, I already have all the results, so I could just sit down and read papers. You will not always be stressed and there will be a balance.
How often do you meet with your Ph.D. advisor? Is your Ph.D. advisor typically available when you need help? If they are not around, how do you get support? What kinds?
I work in the Dr. Cohen-Karini lab at CMU. I meet with my advisor almost everyday, and I also contact my advisor via Slack or email. He is really helpful. I was really interested in his research which is why I chose his lab. Now our lab is in the build-up process so it is necessary to wrap up several key projects. That is why he likes to give updates very frequently. He is super responsive to our challenges and always there to help. He is also really proud of his students and his research, that is why I think the work here is really enjoyable. If he is not around, other lab members or other groups at CMU can potentially offer help. They are really open to any questions.
For example, when I was in my first year, I had some troubles with the machinery. The senior students were not angry that I messed up the equipment and helped me learn how to fix the equipment. This way, I could troubleshoot by myself. The senior students are really a valuable resource because they are always in the lab and they have a better understanding of what you are doing and can give good advice. Each lab has their own focus, and it is really hard to handle all of the challenges, it is very important to communicate with other labs. I was working on sensors but we don’t have experience on how to make them, more specifically how to make the substrates and the connectors. My lab has a very good connection with collaborators at Northwestern. So we had a virtual zoomed tour to their lab and learned how to solve those challenges. When we face an issue in other processes, we could receive help from other labs. We are also happy to help other labs when they need help. There is always taking as well as giving.
Does your advisor support students in their pursuit of career goals? Does he or she help grad students find postdocs, jobs, VC funding, etc.?
Yes, as far as I know, our first PhD student graduated in Jan 2020. The advisor was really helpful to him and shared his application materials with him about how to find a professor position. The result was pretty successful, he got four offers and could choose which offers he wanted.
How to be successful as a Ph.D. student?
Be responsible and be professional. Being responsible means you should be responsible for your project and the role you took in your team and communicating your research to others. Being professional means you should know the details of what you are working on. It is good to separate your emotions and your work.
Any last pieces of advice you would like to give students who are wanting to go to get their PhDs?
I would like to say PhD is a really challenging step to take. It is not only an academic research aspect, it is a really comprehensive challenge. I think you are the only person who is responsible for yourself and your research. You need to make the realization and decision by yourself. Listen to your heart and follow what you really want to do, despite what other people say or expect from you.
Yingqiao Wang
Yingqiao is a Materials Science and Engineering Ph.D. student at Carnegie Mellon University. She is currently working on biosensors and material-neuronal interfaces.
Connect with Yingqiao via LinkedIn
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