Exchange Diaries
Neelarun Mukherjee | Geology and Geophysics
The University of Texas at Austin, USA
What motivated you for MS/Ph.D.? From where did you get the motivation? How did it all start? How did you handle your preparation with your academics?
Some part of me always wanted to go for research, so when I first started in my department, to be honest, I poked my nose in subjects like machine learning and data science, following the herd. But I am someone who likes Physics a lot that is why I started exploring some different aspects of our subject geophysics and there I got more in-depth knowledge in fluid mechanics and it was very interesting for me and then I searched a lot about applications of Fluid Mechanics. Like that, I landed up in the research field.
It was tough to handle preparation and academics. But in IIT Kharagpur you don’t need to study every day, you just study two or three days before the exam and you will be able to do well in acads. That’s what I did and in my free time, I used to go in-depth in fluid mechanics, took some courses from the mechanical engineering department like advanced fluid mechanics and microfluidics, etc., and tried to apply in geosciences: which brought me to the field of hydrogeology.
What is the process of application?
The process of applying for Canadian and European universities is almost the same, what you need to do is there is an application portal on their website where you fill in details and upload the CV and put the SOP and if you have any publications then upload it. They need at least three recommendations from your professors, and then you need to pay application fees. After two or three months, the results will be out. But I first contacted the professor under whom I want to do research; I sent him an email along with my CV. And then he replied to me that he is interested in taking me in his research group after a couple of small interviews. I also applied to a few more places but UT Austin was the top of my priority list.
Did you apply to multiple universities? If yes, can you please elaborate on the differences in the selection process of the universities?
I applied to four universities and got selected in three of them. The university from which I got rejected is MIT. MIT takes the best students from the world, getting selected in MIT is quite difficult, they consider a lot of things like your CGPA, your publications, the recommendation from a professor, and many more. I may be rejected because of CG. There is always something that you can do better; probably I would do better in CG and also publications.
How are you planning to manage your finances? Have you applied for any scholarships? What were their procedures?
My university fee is paid by the university itself. When you are joining a research lab as a graduate research assistant you are getting paid which is called a research assistantship. There is no such procedure, the professor under whom you are working will help you to get a research assistantship or a fellowship, and even if you did not get it then you can get a teaching assistantship.
What is the role of CGPA in the process? How did IIT Kharagpur benefit you in your journey?
As I already told you in the reason for my rejection from MIT, that most of the top universities have high CGPA as a cut-off, if you maintain a good CGPA it will help you in getting selection in almost all the universities. IIT Kharagpur helped me a lot, it gave me the platform to understand my interest and showed me the path to achieve it. Also, I got my recommendations which are a very important thing from the professors in IIT Kharagpur. Professor Saibal Gupta helped me a lot, my research interest developed because of him. He used to tell me about what to study, what to do after graduation, and all, this is how it helped me a lot to get Ph.D. admission.
What changes do you think the pandemic will have already brought in the process?
My research will start in August; I don’t know what will be the situation at that time. But presently, from different contacts, I got to know that the university is taking classes from online mode and they are planning to call Masters students and research scholars in person at the university.
What are the opportunities after the MS/Ph.D. course?
Their many opportunities, once you will complete your Ph.D. you are considered as a highly qualified person, and either you can go for a postdoctoral degree: that’s what most Ph.D. students do. Or you can join the company to do their research work. Many high-paying companies offer this kind of job.
What message do you want to give the juniors today who are interested in pursuing similar courses?
For freshers and sophomores, I don’t have such a message, you should be exploring different things and find your area of interest. Don’t be in a rat race. You may not like your subject but it doesn’t mean that subject is bad, try to dig into the subject. And just don't depend upon teachers.