People often ask me advice on how to apply for a graduate program. Questions include, how to select a lab to apply to, what to include in the research proposal, what to look for in a prospective lab? etc. My suggestion usually is to find something that truly interests you. Going through a PhD is not a child’s play. It’s a whole different level than the undergrad classes. There would days or weeks you would be stuck at the same in the problem. There would many a nights you would spend in your lab, frustrated, dealing with anxiety, procrastination, and for heaven knows hunger! You would perhaps work for weeks and months on an idea, only for it to turn out to be a dud or perhaps, only for somebody else to have gotten to the end result a tiny yet significant bit before you! What keeps the motivation alive and you healthy and sane is the real interest in the topic that initially got you excited and the support and aid from your supervisor, lab members, and your friends. What’s most imp...
Made with ChatGPT5-thinking prompt Cast (extended cut) Suyog — A visiting UTokyo PhD researcher in gravitational-wave ML. Quietly strong upper body, cute, trustworthy face; multilingual; the kind of listener who makes people feel smarter while they talk. A steady center of gravity wrapped in a good coat. Dr. Aisha Khan — Indian-Australian curator at NGV, voice like warm glass. A realist who believes in wonder only after it pays rent. Mei Lin — Chinese quantum engineer (Beijing → Tsinghua → MIT visiting fellow), laughter with edges; keeps three notebooks: math, mistakes, and metaphors. Yuki Takahashi — Japanese paper-and-textile conservator from Tokyo on a Melbourne fellowship. Speaks softly, mends fiercely. Perfume of hinoki and linen. Hana Kim — Korean data scientist, caffeine poet. Lucía Ortega — Spanish interpreter, catches meaning mid-air. Shalah — Bedouin tracker; sands taught him that absence has footprints too. Akbar & Birbal — a king and his...