The original interview is available for readers here.
SciBD: What is your key to maintaining a good relationship with your supervisor?
I follow the mantra that I learned from my Bangladesh supervisor, “Honesty and sincerity”. Once you are honest and sincere, you will find everyone is trusting you around yourself. Ultimately, everyone loves an honest and sincere person. So, be sincere and honest; rest scenarios will be the best.
SciBD: Doing PhD is a stressful job? How do you manage or release stress?
As I am doing my PhD here alone and left my wife and kids and family behind, it’s somehow stressful. To make life stress-free, I am engaged with a few social works like I teach British-Bangladeshi kids Bangla one hour per week. However, you feel peer pressure in your PhD and that is very critical to overcoming. In my case, I was feeling imposter at the beginning as I switched to Medicinal Chemistry from Biology. But I overcame it by changing the table from 9 to 6! Let me explain, I was thinking at the beginning that I am here from Bangladesh with six years of job experience in industry and academia and also awarded a Commonwealth Scholarship and so on. All this self-satisfaction puts pressure on my brain and compares me to my peers from Oxford and Cambridge. This was a “9” thing! But actually, I am here as a student to learn and all resources available here at King’s are for my improvement so nothing to lose, then I started from the other side, where ‘9“looks like ”6”.
SciBD: What is your key to maintaining a good relationship with your supervisor?
I follow the mantra that I learned from my Bangladesh supervisor, “Honesty and sincerity”. Once you are honest and sincere, you will find everyone is trusting you around yourself. Ultimately, everyone loves an honest and sincere person. So, be sincere and honest; rest scenarios will be the best.
SciBD: What mistakes should one avoid when contacting with University or Professor for a PhD studentship?
I don’t know about common mistakes but after trying for years to get a scholarship I can understand a student should write to the professor with a purpose. What I meant is after reading your email the professor can easily understand your background on the field (for PhD) and why you are choosing the professor (which available project you are targeting). How easily you can describe your purpose, you will get a reply sooner.
