The PhD Program Office has arranged to send one of our oustanding PhD student over to Judge Business School in Cambridge University on an exchange program for four months (1 August 2010 - 31 December 2010).

Please see below on Navid Asgari's experience in Cambridge.

Navid Asgari, Department of Management & Organisation

My exchange to Cambridge University as one of the oldest educational institutes of the world, where the pioneers of many academic fields graduated from or worked for, was a unique experience.

While rushing for seminars, presentations and classes in different parts of the city I was feeling excited to be in a city which is nothing but a huge campus hosting the most prestigious research institutes of the world.

During my exchange I managed to take classes in the department of economics, to attend seminars and conferences at the Judge Business School and to attend at talks and speeches by most famous scientist of the world in different research institutes of the university.

However, the best part of my experience was attending debates at the “Cambridge Union Society” and seeing the process of a democratic discussion led by famous guests and students of the university.

These all were made possible by unconditional help and generous funding of PhD & Research Office at NUS Business School.

Photo taken at King's College of the Cambridge University


Photo of Changing of the Guards at Buckingham Palace




Photo of Cambridge River and the Iconic Punts

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The PhD Program Office has arranged to send one of our oustanding PhD student over to New York University on an exchange program for three months (September 2009 - November 2009).

Please see below on Zhang Huiping's experience in New York.

Zhang Huiping, Department of Finance

Stern School of Business in New York University (NYU-Stern) is one of the World’s Topmost Schools in my research area, Market Microstructure. I am deeply grateful to my supervisors in NUS Business School and Professor Amihud, my sponsor in NYU-Stern, for having given me this wonderful opportunity.

Initially, life was challenging for me since I audited two seminar classes and attended two seminars each week, in addition to working on my own projects. To make sure that I could learn from the seminar classes, I needed to read many papers and did some presentations just as a PhD student taking credit courses. Nevertheless, I enjoyed these classes immensely since they were taught by two very senior professors taught who gave thought provoking insights into the subjects. Furthermore, the interactions with other professors and PhD students enabled me to develop some new research ideas.

As the Heart of International Commerce, New York is a very dynamic city. Here, everything is possible! It also has many famous tourist attractions, such as the Time Square, the Wall Street, the Central Park, the Liberty Island, etc. One of my favorite places was the Metropolitan Museum. One of the most famous museums in the world, it presents over 5000 works of art from across the globe. Not surprisingly, the Museum is too huge to be covered in one day. Another unique feature of this must-visit in New York is that, instead of paying a fixed-price ticket, the visitors pay as per their choice.

As a global fashion hub, New York is a shoppers’ paradise. From the highest end luxury brands to the flea markets, everything is available in every possible price range. At the Woodbury Common Premium Outlets for instance, one can find well-known brands at pretty good prices. From the New York City, it is also very convenient to visit other big cities such as Washington D.C. and Boston. Tickets can be purchased easily from China town for weekend trips to these cities.

Overall, this visit to NYU has provided tremendous learning both academically & personally. Whether it was learning how to analyze one subject from multiple perspectives or understanding & connecting with different cultures, this visit has had a profound impact on my overall learning as a student, and will be one of the most cherished experiences of my life.




Photo taken at The Stern School of Business




Photo taken at The Metropolitan Meseum




Photo taken at The United Nation

The PhD Program Office has arranged to send one of our outstanding PhD student over to UC Berkeley on an exchange program for one semester (January 2009 - July 2009).

Please see below on Kong Qingxia's experience in Berkeley.

Kong Qingxia, from Department of Decision Sciences

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

The 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).

Please see below on Shen Jianfeng's experience 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

Please see below on Suman's experience in Kellogg.

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

The 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.

Geoffrey Bryan Ang Chua, from Department of Decision Sciences

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.