PhD student Interview 19: Please don’t pursue PhD just for a degree. If you finally decide to start PhD, try to keep yourself updated with what is going on in your field of research because the research field, regardless of the subject is always evolving.
Scientific Bangladesh is very glad to interview Dr. Tamrin Chowdhury this time.
Dr. Chowdhury has been conducting research on brain tumor at Seoul National University Hospital, Seoul, South Korea since 2015 and recently published her work titled “A glioneuronal tumor with CLIP-2 MET fusion” in the Genomic Medicine, a prestigious journal of Nature Publishing Group. Dr. Chowdhury shared her passion, ways to manage supervisor, keep balancing personal as well as research life and so on. Let’s hear more from her-
Scientific Bangladesh: Please briefly introduce yourself, your PhD topic and your University to our readers.
Dr. Tamrin Chowdhury: I graduated from Sher e Bangla Medical College, Barisal and initially I was interested in the clinical field. I did an honorary 6 months training in Neurosurgery from Dhaka Medical College that’s when I got interested in postgraduation in the brain tumor field. I completed my MS from Seoul National University, South Korea in Neurosurgery and got involved in basic medical research. Currently I’m working on my PhD majoring in Translational Medicine in the same university. My research area is focused on Neuro-oncology and genomic data analysis.
Scientific Bangladesh: What has made you have gone for PhD? In other words, why are you pursuing PhD?
Dr. Tamrin Chowdhury: During my masters studies I really enjoyed learning about different techniques of biomedical research and the vast potential of this field. I wanted know more about the field of Neuro-oncology and Neuro-genetics. So I decided to continue my PhD in this area.
Scientific Bangladesh: How did you choose your i) PhD topic and ii) Institute?
Dr. Tamrin Chowdhury: i) I was always fascinated by human brain and its complexity and how brain tumors affect the normal brain. So I chose this as my PhD topic.
ii) I chose SNU as my PhD institute because my experience of doing Master’s here was excellent. I got to learn new techniques and research areas in my field of interest, which is brain & brain tumors. So I was confident that I will get a more extensive experience if I continue my PhD in SNU.
Scientific Bangladesh: How will you get PhD? By submitting a thesis or publishing a certain no. of publications (journal articles)?
Dr. Tamrin Chowdhury: Have to publish at least one SCI paper as well as submitting a thesis related to the already published paper.
Scientific Bangladesh: Did you deliberately choose your Supervisor? What were your criteria for choosing PhD supervisor?
Dr. Tamrin Chowdhury: Yes, I deliberately chose my supervisor. Since my master’s supervisor didn’t have his own laboratory, I did most of my master’s research work under another professor’s lab with my master’s supervisor’s recommendation. That other professor I chose as my PhD supervisor because I had really good experience with him during my masters and learned a lot from him.
Scientific Bangladesh: What are the mistakes one should avoid when contacting the University or Professor for PhD studentship?
Dr. Tamrin Chowdhury: Avoid being too generalized. Be specific in your research interests and why you think you can be a good match for the Professor in terms of research interests. Avoid grammatical and spelling mistakes in application. Check multiple times and if possible, validate with another person.
Scientific Bangladesh: What are the minimum requirements to get admission as Bachelor, Master or PhD student in Seoul National University?
Dr. Tamrin Chowdhury: Mandatory requirements: IELTS overall 6.0 and GPA 3.0 out of 4.0.
Scientific Bangladesh: If anyone wants to do PhD in Seoul National University/South Korea, what are the steps one has to follow?
Dr. Tamrin Chowdhury: First complete the IELTS. Then either contact a Professor of your field of interest and apply with his/her recommendation. Or apply directly through university portal during admission time.
Scientific Bangladesh: What is your key to maintaining a good relationship with your supervisor?
Dr. Tamrin Chowdhury: Regular communication. Update supervisor on current project status weekly and inform him about any difficulties or problems faced during projects. Be punctual and active but also be polite.
Scientific Bangladesh: What principle do you follow to maintain a good relationship with your labmates?
Dr. Tamrin Chowdhury: I try to help them whenever it is necessary. I seek helps from the experienced labmates when I do something new. And I try to guide my junior lab mates in their projects too if they require. I cooperate with the general lab works as much as possible.
Scientific Bangladesh: Isn’t doing PhD a stressful job? How do you manage or what do you do to release stress?
Dr. Tamrin Chowdhury: Of course doing a PhD can be sometimes stressful when things don’t go according to plan. But I view my PhD as a journey rather than a job. I read a lot of books. Books are my get away portals from everyday stress. I listen to music sometimes. I also talk to my parents and siblings every day and it helps me a lot to release my stresses.
Scientific Bangladesh: How many days in a week you go to the lab? Why?
Dr. Tamrin Chowdhury: Usually from Monday to Friday (5days). Sometimes have to go on weekends if any experiment requires.
Scientific Bangladesh: PhD is considered as training for a career in Research. What 1. Technical and 2. Soft skills you are focusing to develop or already developed by this time?
Dr. Tamrin Chowdhury: I am currently focusing on developing my genomic data analysis skills as my thesis is heavily based on this. I’ve experience in writing manuscripts and I’m familiar with the process too. I want to learn about writing a research grant and developing a research project from the scratch in the future.
Scientific Bangladesh: Nowadays many medical professionals are being interested in molecular research. Being a medical graduate, what is your observation about South Korea in the field of biomedical research?
Dr. Tamrin Chowdhury: South Korea can be an excellent choice for medical professionals who are passionate about basic molecular research. You can start your post-graduation journey here even without extensive prior experience in research field. The Professors usually appreciate the hard work of students and guide personally to increase the experimental skills of the students. Being from a medical background is considered an advantage here when applying for research fields related to medicine.
Scientific Bangladesh: If any medical student wants to come to South Korea, what are the fields available for research (if you could specify some) and what are the scholarship opportunities?
Dr. Tamrin Chowdhury: Most of the medical subjects usually have a research opportunity here but it varies from university to university. From my experience, in SNU medical students can apply for a research based masters or PhD degree in basic subjects like anatomy, pathology, physiology etc. and also in basic research for clinical subjects like general medicine and surgery, cardiovascular medicine, neurosurgery, respiratory medicine, nephrology, neurology etc. When a supervisor is confirmed, after getting admission the scholarship opportunity is usually very high (80-90%). Since there are extensive lab works in the medical research field, apart from the tuition fee scholarship, the supervising professor arranges for a monthly stipend based on the degree type (stipend amount is higher for PhD students).
Scientific Bangladesh: Although many medical students want to move to research, they are scared to apply due to not having prior research experience. Is it a prerequisite to have prior research experience for securing Masters or PhD position in Korea?
Dr. Tamrin Chowdhury: It is possible to apply for masters here in South Korea without prior research experience. If you can show your eagerness and interests for research in your related field through the application and have a good score in IELTS, it is sometimes enough for securing a position. Personally, when I applied for my Masters, I had zero experience in medical research but I enriched my CV with several online free courses related to neurology and brain function research which showed my interest in starting a career in research.
Scientific Bangladesh: What are your suggestions for prospective PhD students?
Dr. Tamrin Chowdhury: Try to understand if research is really the field you are passionate for. Please don’t pursue a PhD just for a degree. Focus on your interested research area. Read a lot of current journal articles regarding your field. Try to keep updated with what is going on in your interested field of research because the research field, regardless of the subject is always evolving.
Scientific Bangladesh: What is your future plan? Want to go back to Bangladesh?
Dr. Tamrin Chowdhury: In my 10 years future plan I want to establish a solid career as a biomedical researcher first, most probably in a research oriented country. I dream about going back to Bangladesh in the long-term and help developing the biomedical research sector if I can find the opportunity there.
Scientific Bangladesh: Thank you very much for your valuable time. Keep making us proud with your research.
