Want to get more emails from Indian students, says award winning Prof in USA

We invited Dr Pallavi Tiwari, Asst professor at Case Western Reserve University for a chat with the Scholar Strategy community. We discussed topics such as how to build a career in R&D and academia, how to contact professors etc.

She went on to Rutgers University where she finished her PhD in Biomedical Engineering and decided to continue her R&D career by taking the academia route. 

Pallavi, who herself hailed from a Tier 2 town in India and had a limited research exposure in college, has achieved great heights in her research career in USA.  

Dr Tiwari’s impact on brain cancer research was recognized in June when she was selected as one of six winners of the third annual Johnson & Johnson Women in STEM2D (WiSTEM2D) Scholars Award. Each recipient, representing each of the STEM2D disciplines—science, technology, engineering, math, manufacturing and design—will receive a $150,000 grant and three years of mentorship. She has previously been a recipient of many research-related awards including the Presidential 100 Women achievers award by the Govt of India for her contributions to Science and Research.  

At Case Western Reserve University, she is spearheading cutting-edge research in the field of computational imaging, artificial intelligence and machine learning to address some of the most critical clinical problems in brain tumors. She is the Director of Brain Image Computing Laboratory.

In her chat, Dr Tiwari advised engineering students to proactively reach out to Professors if they are applying to Grad School.

Keep the emails succinct because Professors are busy and do not copy paste the same email to multiple Professors. It is always good to read a few of their papers and mention them briefly in the email. Most importantly, be genuine.

I often get emails from students all over the world but I would like to see more emails from Indian students. I want them to know that research is a viable career option.

She would love to get more emails from Indian students and is always encouraging women to pursue careers in STEM. 

Also Read: Why Email Professors before applying to MS programs?

Dr Tiwari also added that worrying too much about jobs and salaries very early on can hamper grad students from exploring all the options.

Don’t pigeonhole yourself initially, else you will not know what other option could have worked very well for you. I myself didn’t have a very clear plan when I came to the USA but slowly realised that I want to continue to pursue research as a career option. If you are not sure of the commitment for PhD, you can come for MS and then decide later on.

She also discussed the importance of finding a good research mentor.

Working in a productive and collegial research lab in the long-run is a lot more important than going to a high-profile university. I have benefited greatly from the mentorship I received during my PhD and the friendships I built with my labmates over the years.

Full conversation with Dr Pallavi Tiwari is available on our Instagram TV.

How to get your research papers published?

Scholar Strategy MS in USA

Significance of research papers publications

For the first time, China has overtaken the United States in terms of the total number of science research papers publications, according to statistics compiled by the US National Science Foundation (NSF).

As an aspiring grad student or researcher, one of the best things you can do to enhance your application chances is publish a good quality research paper. But many applicants do not know how exactly to go about it.

Tips for becoming a published researcher

So, we invited Utkarsh Sinha who is a Petroleum Engineer, graduating from University of Houston and a published researcher to share some tips about the same. He is currently working with Hicor Technologies and is a JPSE & ATCE Published Author. Utkarsh has also been a summer research fellow at IIT Delhi!

He answers the following in this short video-

  1. How to approach Professors to work on a research project
  2. How to write a good research paper

Go through it and start cranking on your own research!

How you can get into Research after MS and contact Professors for PhD?

Summary

Asha Shibu (LinkedIn profile) pursued MS Energy at TAMU but managed to head to Oak Ridge National Lab as a research intern/engineer. Now, she is applying for PhD with promising responses from Professors. Her review of MS Energy program is available on https://scholarstrategy.github.io/ssreview

She tells her story of getting into a research lab directly after MS. In this interview with her, we cover:

  1. How to explore research options from MS?
  2. Do you have to decide about PhD right away?
  3. What matters when choosing a PhD program to apply to?
  4. Commentary on job prospects in Power and Energy field in USA

How to contact Professors if you are applying for a PhD position?

As a bonus, Asha talks about how she has successfully been contacting targeted Professors in her area. She gracefully shares the email that she used herself to get responses.

Subject: Research on Building Energy Efficiency – Prospective Student

Dear Dr. ____,

My name is Asha Shibu and I’m an Energy graduate from Texas A&M University, currently working as Research Assistant at Oak Ridge National Lab. I’m writing to express my interest in your research on Energy efficient buildings at University of Massachusetts-Amherst.

My master’s coursework provided me with an interdisciplinary understanding of multiple aspects of the field, ranging from an overview of energy technologies; to multi-scale energy systems engineering methods; to energy economics, law, security, policy, and societal impact. During my coursework, I also worked at the Industrial Assessment Center (IAC) at Texas A&M University, a Department of Energy (DOE) funded program. In this position, I was trained to assess manufacturing plants and to identify measures that would save energy, reduce waste, enhance productivity, and reduce operating costs. As an Energy Engineer at IAC, I conducted ASHRAE Level I-II energy audits that resulted in $730,000 in recommended savings to date, and I developed practical skills in thermal systems, electrical power systems, building envelopes, HVAC, combustion systems, and lighting. The training I received at the IAC, along with courses such as “Energy Efficiency in Buildings,” sparked my interest in energy efficiency and sustainable energy resources utilized in commercial and residential buildings, and my desire to be involved in the field’s ongoing research led me to work for the Oak Ridge National Lab after graduation. As a researcher, I realize the importance of collaborating with others in the field, and at the same time, of an ability to work independently. Currently, I’m working on two DOE projects, and my interaction with the Energy Efficiency Research and Analysis Group at ORNL has sharpened my appetite for further knowledge in Building Technologies field and this is one area I could see myself exploring further in research as a graduate student.

I will be applying to Ph.D. program in Building Systems offered by University of Massachusetts-Amherst and would very much like the opportunity to join your group. Will you be accepting applications for new graduate students for entry in Fall 2018?

Thank you very much for your time. I hope we have the chance to speak about research in the near future.

Sincerely,
Asha Shibu
ASTRO Student
Energy Efficiency Research and Analysis Group (EERA)

For more info on how to contact Professors, please check out MS Book.

So, without further ado, here is the interview with Asha Shibu.

We are now open for Spring/Fall 2019 admission cycle. Check out our counseling packages to see how we can help you.

One thing you need to nail for superb application results

I interviewed Bhavesh Sanghvi, CS grad from Iowa State University who is now working with Amazon in USA. He thinks that everyone works on their SOP, LORs and resume but if you can do this one thing, it might put you at a big advantage. He did it himself and found much success.

GRE and GMATs may become obsolete in the coming years but there is one thing that will not stop mattering for MS/PhD applications. This is also one of those things which if you get right can get you admitted right into your dream school.

And, now is the time to do it.

I bet you are thinking that we mean publishing more papers. But nope, that is not enough.

What we are talking about is emailing the Professors!

I also interviewed Ankit Srivastava, Asst Professor at IIT Chicago and PhD from University of California, San Diego. He said emailing Professors can be tricky but highly rewarding.

Here is why it can be so effective (as Ankit told me) – Professors fund students through grants and the goal of any school is to be able to admit and fund as many good students as possible. So, if a Professor recommends a student and can potentially fund her, the school committee would be more than happy to admit her directly with no fuss. 

It’s funny how simple and logical it is and yet, how many students ignore this step.

I had a client last year whose friend put her in touch with her advisor. As it happened, the advisor was looking for a suitable grad student immediately. Not only did the Professor recommend my client’s admission after a quick review of her resume (yes not even looking at SOP etc) but also gave her full funding. Things moved at lightning speed and it was one of the smoothest admission and visa process as you can imagine.

Also Read: Want to get more emails from Indian students, says award winning Prof in USA

The bottom line is while it is very hard to get positive responses from the Professors, but if you hit it right, it can be more effective than ANY other thing in your application. So you would be a fool to not try it out.

In MS Book, I have covered the topic in detail and provided sample emails and templates on how to contact the Professors because it is an important thing to do. Check it out here – https://scholarstrategy.com/smart-engineer-book/

So, do not leave out on this step when you are working hard to get into those TOP schools anyway. Good luck!