Prospective Research Student Information

Please read the content mentioned below carefully before contacting me for a possible supervision request.

1. Are you accepting PhD students?
Yes, I am. Now I am a bit careful before accepting one given I already have a big team to handle including my research.
2. I am self-funded. Will you accept me straightaway?
Being self-funded does not guarantee that you can work with me. I need to assess your research skills before admitting you to my team. As I mentioned earlier, I am very careful now in accepting new members in my team.
3. I am an international prospective PhD student. Do you have scholarship/funding to support me?
Sadly, at the moment I cannot support international PhD students covering full tuition and living expenses. If I get such a support in the future, I will advertise here and on the online social media.
4. How can I work with you?
1. Please check my profile to identify if your research interests closely align with mine.
2. Send me your CV and a short research proposal.
3. Wait for my response.
4. If you do not receive my response within a week, perhaps you have randomly sent me your documents without even checking my profile.
5. Can I still apply without contacting you?
Yes, you can. However, if you want to work with me, please mention my name as your potential supervisor in your application. You can apply here . I will carefully review your application and a decision will follow regarding further steps.
6. What are my minimum entry requirements?
While I work mainly with text data, my main speciality lies in Mathematics. I try and propose new methods to model text data. Therefore, I would prefer someone who has a strong grounding in Mathematics, Statistics, Physics, or related subjects. If you have a similar passion, you are the right person to work with me. However, over the years, I have realised that not everyone is alike. Some students who are not very strong initially quickly catch-up with the challenges and do exceedingly well. This is why I tend to not directly reject applications if I see weak Mathematical skills. I try to understand the applicant from various perspectives first, and then interview the applicant to understand the individual even better so that I could make an informed decision.
7. Do you accept short-term interns?
Usually, I do not. Given what COVID-19 has taught us, I can discuss a possible remote "unpaid" internship setup with you where you can work on research problems in your campus and I can remotely supervise you. If you do a good job, e.g., you publish a paper at a competitive venue, I will not hesitate to write a letter of recommendation for you.
8. Do you accept visiting students?
Yes, I do. Please feel free to contact me regarding this further. It all depends on whether I have set aside some funds for visiting scholars.
9. I want an acceptance letter to apply for a scholarhsip, can you please give me one?
If you write to me requesting an acceptance letter so that you can apply for a scholarship, e.g., Commonwealth Fellowship scheme, the straight answer is NO. The correct procedure is to apply to our PhD programme, pass my interview if shortlisted, and based on your performance in your interview, you will be offered an acceptance letter. I cannot just recommend you for a place bypassing all formal requirements.
10. What it is like working with me?
1. You are free to explore the research topic which you are most passionate about.
2. You are free to build your collaborative research network.
3. I will ever push you in publishing your findings in top publication venues. I will encourage you to attend conferences regularly.
4. You will be encouraged to propose novel mathematical models; and training, if you are already not an expert in proposing novel computational methods.
5. I will be closely intertwined to your work: you won't feel ignored!
6. A chance to work with my collaborative network comprising of very talented researchers.
11. Who is an ideal PhD student in your eyes?
1. Hard working
2. Passionate
3. Dedicated
4. Motivated
5. Mentally strong
6. Smiles on failures, but knows how to defeat failure
7. Exercises everyday
8. Can dance or sing, or play a guitar: an expert in something that is beyond academics and research
12. How can I contact you?
E-mail is the best channel.