Bio
Details: 26, from Zhejiang China
Imperial Course: PhD in dwell fatigue in titanium alloys
Optional Modules: Attributes and Aspirations
Previous Education: Materials Science and Engineering, Tsinghua University – 1st equivalent
MSc Advanced Materials Science, UCL – Distinction
Tags: Overseas, PGR, FoE, Materials
Motivations and Frustrations
Motivations
Chun Mei wants to continue her research in the materials sector but to collaborate with industry to ensure the research she does is practical. She is interested to explore what research might look like outside of academia but equally very much enjoys the academic environment. She enjoys exploring different cultures and hopes that her future will include visiting and working in a range of countries.
Frustrations
Chun Mei has lots of Chinese friends but is finding it hard to make other friends as her lab isn’t very social. However, her PhD keeps her very busy so she is struggling to find time to join in with activities outside of work. She feels that her English language skills could be suffering because of this. Due to her high marks and diligence, she finds it difficult to talk with her supervisor about exploring research outside of an academic setting as they are already discussing how perfect she will be for a postdoc position.
AA Journey
Chun Mei uses Attributes and Aspirations the sections in bold refer to the units she takes.
In IAS1 for PhD - Your Academic Development Chun Mei considers what she would like to get from her PhD experience. On reflection she would like to get more from group sessions and learn from her peers. However, English isn’t Chun Mei’s first language and while she has good IELTS scores she still wants to improve. In AA3 for ENG – About Imperial she signs of up the Centre for Academic English ‘Communicating Science Successfully’ workshops and explores other places within Imperial where she might find English Language support. She then uses her experiences with the conversation forum to practice her reflective writing in AA6 for PhD – Reflection. In COM2 for PG - Communicating in Person Chun Mei is attending a sustainability conference run by Institute of Materials, Mineral and Mining. She is nervous about meeting new people so she uses this unit to prepares some questions she might ask.
Part of effective teamwork is being able to set boundaries and in WWO3 for PhD – Saying No Chun Mei discovers the different ways of saying no and how they are used in different situations. The unit also explores how people may feel when being told no.
In CVA4 for PhD – CVs Chun Mei is considering different roles and is looking at how recruiters read a CV. She then works out what the most relevant things are to put in a general CV and a research CV and where to put them to make sure they are noticed.