PhD Program Office has arranged with the Kellogg School of Management on sending 2 of our PhD students over an exchange program for 1 semester (Jan 08 to Jun 08). We are pleased to have our 2 students who tell us more about their stay in Kellogg.
The first month in Kellogg was extremely busy and challenging for me. As a final year student on the job market, I have to prepare for job talks and revise my thesis in addition to taking classes with the PhD students here. But it is definitely rewarding since I have got exposed to various interesting topics in finance research. The PhD training at Kellogg is rigorous in terms of both the scope and depth.
Being away from the family and most of the friends, the life here becomes much simpler. Every day I shuttle between the office and the flat. Chicago is famous of its windy and cold winter and thus outdoor activities are reduced to the minimum in the winter. But what is exciting is the snow which you would never expect in Singapore. Stepping gently on the incompact snow just fallen to the ground and feeling its softness makes the walk back home such an enjoyable activity. However, walking on the melting and muddy snow is really annoying when the weather turns warm.
Chicago is the home of the famous Chicago Symphony Orchestra. What is nice about CSO is that it offers discount tickets to students at very low price. As such, I have a luxury to enjoy the classical music performances by one of the best symphony orchestras in the world. In the weekend, attending the concert by CSO in the downtown has been the most important and enjoyable recreation I have here. With the time goes by, I believe that I will come to love the simple life here, especially after the freezing winter. Unfortunately, it will also be close to the time to say good bye to Chicago.
My Office in Kellogg
Kellogg 1
Kellogg 2
Being selected for the Visiting Scholar Program at Kellogg School of Management (Northwestern University), Evanston, Illinois was a dream come true and definitely a huge chance for me to broaden my horizons in terms of my research as well as contacts in the academic field of my choice.
The loosely designed program gave me good opportunity to not only choose courses (both methodological and theoretical) which would aid and develop my research skills but also gave me a chance to interact with the faculty and make friends with exceptional and gifted upcoming younger researchers so as to broaden my research horizon and understand more about the new developments in my field of research. Being situated in Evanston also gave me a double advantage in that I could also interact with faculty and fellow PhD scholars in the nearby Chicago GSB which definitely was a topping on the ice-cream. I have been able to discuss my research with some of the well known researchers in the field and draw from their experience and hope to collaborate with them on ideas of mutual interest in the future.
My stay in the McManus Learning and Living Centre was an enjoyable experience giving me not only a way to relive my own MBA days but it also helped me make many friends and understand the culture of the school and the university better. The added benefit was the facilities being offered which made it easy for me to work with my own supervisors in NUS Business School without feeling that I was half a world away.
Being from the warm and humid equatorial climate of Singapore, the chilly and unpredictable winter of Chicago was a definite surprise but the warm and friendly people both in the School and outside of it more than made up for it. I have been able to explore the city a little in spite of the weather and both the city and the suburbs have impressed me so far that I look forward to exploring it more during the spring season. The city has been a blend of cultural diversity and modernism and has been a haven of surprises for the food lover in me.
Overall, I am very thankful for my professors and NUS Business School for giving me this opportunity to broaden my personal and academic perspectives through advanced training and research opportunities as well as to explore and appreciate new cultures in one of the world renowned business school.
Homebase-In Marketing Department, Kellogg
Enjoying the Culture-Chicago Blues
Sightseeing-at Navy Pier
PhD Program Office has also arranged with University of California, Berkeley on sending one of our student in Department of Decision Sciences as a visiting student researcher from Aug 07 to Dec 07.
Please see below on Geoffrey's experience in Berkeley.
My Berkeley Experience
Voted one of the brainiest places to retire in, Berkeley, California is without a doubt one of the most beautiful places I have visited. Add to that the attractions of San Francisco a mere train ride away. For four full months, I had a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to live life the Berkeley way. Hosted by the top-ranked Department of Industrial Engineering and Operations Research (IEOR) of the University of California at Berkeley, I had the luxury of attending courses by top-notch professors as well as interacting with sharp and articulate students from various disciplines like Business, Engineering, Computer Science, and Statistics.
Coming from a tropical country halfway across the world, this experience has led me to truly understand the notions of distance, time, and temperature. It was an amazingly different environment, with a culture far removed from what I was familiar with, fostering a completely new perspective on life in general. I also deeply feel that this trip has revived my passion to learn and has rejuvenated the fire in my belly to pursue academic research. Part of it is because of the energy built from interactions with brilliant professors and enthusiastic graduate students, while much of it, I believe, is due to some precious peaceful moments I had to myself. These moments allowed me to read books and journals, absorbing much more material than what I would have in a less distraction-free environment. I also relished some quite times when I reflected on life, its many blessings and what lies ahead.
In the final analysis, I truly believe this trip has gifted me with a renewed perspective on life, thus I strongly encourage everyone else to participate in exchange programs like the Berkeley program. It is an experience you will never forget.
Full Colours of Berkeley Campus
Golden Gate Bridge
Wellman Hall
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My Exchange program in Berkeley
When I firstly arrived at Berkeley, I was impressed with the openness of the university: it hosts a very large group of exchange students and visiting scholars/professors from all over the world The University provides a platform for researchers who share the same interests and passion, to meet each other and exchange ideas. In Berkeley, one of the most enjoyable experiences for me was to attend seminars/workshops in Business, Economics, Computer Science or IEOR department, to get exposure to sharp ideas, elegant results, wonderful presentation and unforgettably brilliant comments from the audience. These seminars not only broadened my vision on research, but also rejuvenate my drive and passion of pursuing research as a life-long career.
Meanwhile, it was also fun to interact with the professors and students at Berkeley, who were all very helpful and welcoming. According to one professor, ‘everybody was helping everybody else’. I was invited to attend regular ‘academic lunch’, during which we talked about our research questions and our lives. Through these conversations, it dawned upon me that every research student has to go through the learning curve, no matter how painful, on their own. Advisors and other people can provide guidance but the actual journey has to undertaken on one’s own. Besides the inspirations obtained from discussion with people from different faculties, I also felt relieved and surprisingly motivated by sharing similar grievances and concerns with them.
Coming from a traditional Chinese family, I inevitably experienced some ‘culture shock’ when interacting with western people. However, these experiences helped me gain awareness and appreciation of different cultures, and develop a more holistic, all-rounded personality.
Outside the University life and the Research labs, Berkeley is a quiet town with beautiful mountains and stunning view of the ocean, a great place for hiking and water sports. The Chuan Food restaurant in Berkeley which is almost as good as the ones in China, did not let me miss my favorite food for long, and provided a Home away from Home.
All in all, Berkeley was a life transforming experience and I am grateful to have been given such a great opportunity by NUS.
Photo taken in front of the Famous Clock Tower in Berkeley
Photo taken in front of the University Library at Berkeley
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