Exchange Diaries  

Pranav Krishnan | Metallurgical and Materials Engineering

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, United States of America

1. While you were in college, what was your motivation to go for higher studies and in which
year did you get that motivation? How did you manage your academics with your
preparation?
Probably ever since my first year, I've been interested in material science for quite a while,
ever since I came to KP. And the reason to pursue higher studies is simply because of the
nature of the field. So certain industries, computer science, or electronics, to an extent come
to mind a bachelor's degree is enough to obtain the relevant skills to get into industry and,
and contribute. But, certain other fields like material science are very highly specialised. So
the applications and at both levels, you either, we have the research or application industry,
the amount, the, the work that happens is very special. So the kind of knowledge you also
need to be able to do that work is at a much higher level, a master's degree just gives you a
foundation.

2. What are the factors that you considered for selecting the universities you are going to
apply for?
So first, I mean, you decide the degree you want. So, an interesting thing about my
application was I had planned and I had completely been preparing for applying to master's
degrees for MS. Programs at the very last minute, like one month before the deadlines, I
changed my mind after talking to a professor. As I was talking to seniors in the industry, I
realised I should be applying to a PhD. It changed at the last minute. So that's not ideal. You
should, based on all your preparation, based on what degree you're going to go for after that.
And after you get an idea of that, I think, by your final year, you should know for sure, because
you'll know at least enough idea of what kind of field you want to get into and for that, what
kind of data you need.

3. Did you apply to multiple universities? If yes can you please elaborate on the differences in
the selection process of the universities? In universities in which you were not selected can
you please share what you felt you lacked, and what could you have done better?
Yes. I applied to multiple universities.
Okay. So the differences are mainly based on two factors, one type of program and the job
pick location. So, the type of programs will be similar. Like it'll be a big difference in the
application process to an MS and a PhD. You cannot have a similar application. It's
completely different, if you're applying for any of those two. Second, say the US and Europe
are the main places people will apply to, Asia is a completely different ballgame. Asia is very

country specific. So that will leave that for now. The main places people look at are the US
and Europe. They're very different, the kind of approach, the kind of thinking that the
university has. And as a result, the kind of applications you need are very different. And, that
is something that you have to research in depth. There's no point talking about that now
what the differences are, but those are where the differences come from type of program
and location.
4. How are you planning to manage your finances? Have you applied for any scholarships?
What were their procedures?
Yeah, the thing is I'm lucky. Master's programs are basically, what happens is, you're paying
the university for an education and, and the opportunities that it gives you. So it's you, that
it's like an undergraduate degree, but very similar, very little differences in structure between
a UG and a master’s. You're paying the university. And in turn you get, you take courses and
you do some projects and all that. So that is completely paid. You have tuition, your loan,
living expenses. Also, obviously PhD is very different because of how you take some courses
and all of that, but you are doing the research work that will benefit the industry like you are
working for the industry. I am saying for the university, you're doing research work that'll
benefit the university, and your projects at the university are funded by companies, etc. You
are doing work for them. So it's more like a job in that sense. So, in a PhD program, you are
paid.
5. Is CGPA a factor while considering higher studies at foreign universities?
So. That depends on the field you're getting into the declarative that you're applying to, but,
solid good CGPA is important. Apart from that research, some people say that things like
publications are not essential, but that varies with the kind of field varies. The I, so COVID
has been happening. Things research has been packing it. So things like publications, the
entire scene changed, um, the kind of work shift. So those are very flexible things, but the
two things that every student can really focus on and make sure there's nothing laughing
from their side is on their, uh, their own academics, their extra Curr experiences. It's
important to show that you're not just a book. And also in terms of research experience, it
should be very visible that you're interested in, in, in, in this general area, if not, you don't need
to show like you're completely passionate about one specific thing.
6. Have you taken up any research project at your bachelor/master's level under any
professor here at IIT KGP? How did you manage your college studies and worked for your
research?
That's the thing to balance because they're different. But I'd say it's possible. It's just the
same as how most of your other friends will be balancing college and internships. It's quite
the same thing.
Your subjects and project work actually might have some overlap, so that's nice. Like you
might actually learn something in a course and the next day you see, oh, I can apply this in
my project. So that's a really nice thing to have. And I think in my opinion, college education
should be like that. Ideally, you shouldn't have to do this, this notion of balancing things,

shouldn't really be there. The balance shouldn't be between curriculars and extracurriculars.
That's the real thing that needs balancing. But in terms of workload stuff, ideally you should
be in a situation where what you're learning and what you're doing are in the same direction.
Unfortunately, like for a lot of people that isn't the case, but everyone should try to make that
the case as much as possible, whatever field you're interested in, try to take those courses,
learn those things so that you can directly apply.
7. What were the other difficulties you faced on taking this path and how to overcome them?
I would say two challenges.
One would probably be lack of relatives, lack of guidance, both from your seniors and peers.
Because obviously if you want, if you decide today, you want to go into software, you'll get
hundreds of people giving you the you'll have a very clear path. You'll have a lot of
information, but in research it's much less because one in your department, , in, in your
general area, there'll be much less people doing research, going for higher studies, but even
more in your particular field that you're interested in. There'll be very few people. Most likely
the only people really doing that may be a few seniors, but there mostly is going to be like the
PhD people, who work on the similar do what to your so one is lack of guidance.
Second challenge is probably, you'll be a bit confused. You can get confused because
everyone around you is doing different things and it might seem like you are on a more
difficult path. Obviously the easiest path in KGP is to just prepare for the CDC. If the CDC
interns get placements, and get paid, it's very safe forward. People can do this in like six
months, and if you are around, you will be following timelines.
You have to wait almost till the end of the year. And you see everyone around you getting
interns. It can be a bit stressful.
8. How did IIT KGP benefit you in your journey?
One of the most important reasons to work with a professor in KGP is to get an idea like
work long, long term, at least for like one year, two years, get to work. And also building a
good working relationship with them. One of the most important things in research in
academia is networking. And these networks that people have professors especially are very,
very strong, very powerful, like just from that collaborations and all that they can say,, this is
an opportunity with one of my collaborators in the UK. You should go work with them. So
things like that are important. So that's one thing you can get KGP for sure, because KGP
professors are very well established in their field.
9. What are the opportunities after the Ph.D. course?
So,unlike what people think of PhD doesn't mean you're going to like to stop off it. So, this is
one thing I understood quite late. So we in India and honestly, in most parts of the world, still
think of it as a very linear process. Like you do a bachelors, you do undergraduate, they do
masters. Then you do PHD. That's not the case in many places. So, uh, they're not even all
PhDs programs in the US anymore. They're all like graduate programs. So, I've gotten stats
from universities that are applying to almost 70% of applicants, at least from the US who
apply to these graduate programs are directly from undergrad. So even if they are not

following a linear thing of bachelor's, masters, then PhD. They're directly going from
undergraduate to these programs. So as in terms of degrees, the result is that they're
effectively joint programs.
When it comes to engineering PHDs, if you've done PHD essentially means you've worked on
a completely new project from scratch. So the kind of skills you get from there is really
valued in industries and hence, many students, after completing a PHD, join some industry
where they work at a very high post, in some cases.