*Official* SGXcafe Thread

[Asphodeli]

the cash feature I a bit lazy to use LOL

boss u quit facebook liao ar? tried to msg u but can't work

 

[StockBot]

boss u quit facebook liao ar? tried to msg u but can't work

sorry, i kanna attack by stalker so that account no use already

 

[OngHuatHuat]

sorry, i kanna attack by stalker so that account no use already

Sometimes I wonder why you always tio attacked.

 

[StockBot]

Sometimes I wonder why you always tio attacked.

maybe is u attack me? lol

i dunno sia

 

[duckyboi]

NUS or ntu put in a lot of effort to attract Singaporeans to do research by giving generous sponsorship thought the whole phd tenure.
Too bad research needs passion and a lot of this passion is killed off during final year project period. And you cannot simply put in people who cannot score well in fyp to do research Coz it requires both passion and talent.

@average

To those asking about further education and how I got free master's education, let me share:
My Grades were not say very fantastic (second lower only) but I have to say I was quite blessed. I was close to my supervisor and I suppose I did good work and he like what I did, he also knows I like the industry I was researching in (healthcare industry). So he hired me under a grant under NUH to do research. hire under NUH is alot better than hire under NUS because your pay is matched to govt policies regarding pay for healthcare people. My inital pay only $2.9k but after gahmen announce revision for salary in healthcare within 1 year my salary go up to $3.2k. Bonus for NUH also better. I think I was quite lucky. right place, right time, meet the right people. unique case.

For My masters, I join as self funded candidate. school fees for self funded candidate is abt $13k a year. if you are a singapore citizen you get a subsidy for further subsidies from the govt for further education, $6k++ a year (PR also have, but I think less). If you are NUS/NUH staff, you also get staff subsidy for school fees, also $6.5k ++ a year. So end up my whole sch fees over 2 years I pay abt $300 for admin fees. If you are undergraduate interested to try out research this is a good way to try it out for minimal loss- you get work exp and pay and also masters. Note that if you do this you can probably only do Masters by research and not coursework.

What is the catch? well not much actually. If you are self disciplined to work and study, which is admittedly not easy, it is not that difficult to pass. Masters passing mark is 3.0/5.0 which is like 60%. not too difficult. My pay was slightly lower than outside for awhile but considering I got a free masters I dont think it's much of a tradeoff. I do think that it is only worth going if you feel it will widen your career prospects though.

PhD is a different story. harder to go in, and I feel not as good. Unless you want to be an academic prof/researcher in ASTAR , doing PhD straight out of sch is career suicide. you become very, very specialised at a certain niche area which is not necessarily very transferable to industry. then you end up too highly qualified and it actually works against you. PhD only really worth it if you work in a company in technical field, then they sponsor you.

Sadly I feel research in Sg not much future. It's true that you must be passionate, and to be honest it is quite exciting to be involved in cool new areas that no one has tried or seen before. but the prospects and oppotunities very small. there are only so many research organisation (NTU,NUS, ASTAR, DSO) and this means that positions are limited, must be damn kilat if you wnat to go far.. prospects are also quite unstable. We are lucky that govt pump in alot of money for research, but if one day no money, no grants, then you got no job.better to broaden your skillset by going out to industry, then if you got masters u got sufficient breadth and depth of skills to be valuable.

Some of you are only partly right that NTU/NUS will not hire their own PhD. they can hire you as resarcher, but very hard to become prof unless you are damn good. This is very common in all universities to prevent inbreeding, not only NUS/NTU. inbreeding is frowned upon in scientific community and will drag down the reputation of the university. That's why Singapore lose some talented people to overseas universities and end up doing stupid stuff at DSO/AStar/ST which is a shame, but that is a consequence of our small size.

If anyone interested in further studies can PM me I can share some insight to improve yourself.

But anyway, this is SGX cafe thread. lets get back to talking agx! I think the new money feature quite cool.

 

[StockBot]

I old liao

not studying anymore

all into stock market already LOL

huat ah $$$$$$$$$$$

 

[OngHuatHuat]

Thanks for the detailed reply.
I last time quite Heng fyp got A, but it kind of kill off all my passion for research. Then I just work all the way till now.

All the best and good luck for you.

 

[stam]

For the cash portion, I have to increase the amount myself everytime for interest/increase in value(eg. Money market fund)?

Posted with My iPhone 6plus S HardwareZone Forums app

 

[Average]

how i wish we can continue the discussion on fyp... i have no idea wat is fyp's standard. If throughout the project got alot of obstacles, like results not as expected etc, how ah? will the profs think u wasted 1yr doing a proj that yields no valuable finding?

me doing fyp next yr...

 

[StockBot]

The cash portion very confusing
Dunno why like that

Wonder if got option to disable it?

 

[OngHuatHuat]

Normally your phd partner will help you. Coz he also need you to get result for his research.

Try to choose those professor that are more lenient.
Last time I chose a prof that is well
Known for his laziness in the whole chem engineering, so that he won't be bothered too much about my progress and how much time I spent in lab.
Eventually you need to present your report and argue your result. If your argument good, then most likely can get quite good result. And remember, report needs not be long, I think my report is one of the thinnest on the day of submission.

how i wish we can continue the discussion on fyp... i have no idea wat is fyp's standard. If throughout the project got alot of obstacles, like results not as expected etc, how ah? will the profs think u wasted 1yr doing a proj that yields no valuable finding?

me doing fyp next yr...

 

[Maeda_Toshiie]

how i wish we can continue the discussion on fyp... i have no idea wat is fyp's standard. If throughout the project got alot of obstacles, like results not as expected etc, how ah? will the profs think u wasted 1yr doing a proj that yields no valuable finding?

me doing fyp next yr...

FYP is "sacrificable" compared to a research masters of PhD. The former is not expect to give particularly novel results or substantial work, while the latter two requires sufficient amount of novel work to actually pass (by right, but by left some people weasel pass it...).

For my FYP, I wasn't under a graduate student, but answered directly to the professor. He was the most responsible (and nicest) professor I met in the department. For that FYP I tio jackpot.

Talk to those who have done it for recommendations on who is the best. Don't simply do it based on topic alone.

 

[Maeda_Toshiie]

Sadly I feel research in Sg not much future. It's true that you must be passionate, and to be honest it is quite exciting to be involved in cool new areas that no one has tried or seen before. but the prospects and oppotunities very small. there are only so many research organisation (NTU,NUS, ASTAR, DSO) and this means that positions are limited, must be damn kilat if you wnat to go far.. prospects are also quite unstable. We are lucky that govt pump in alot of money for research, but if one day no money, no grants, then you got no job.better to broaden your skillset by going out to industry, then if you got masters u got sufficient breadth and depth of skills to be valuable.

Singapore(ans), unlike western countries, discriminates against PhDs, especially those that do not come from the few names that they have heard of (despite the large number of renowned institutions out there which locals do not hear about because they don't advertise themselves to the plebs).

Some of you are only partly right that NTU/NUS will not hire their own PhD. they can hire you as resarcher, but very hard to become prof unless you are damn good. This is very common in all universities to prevent inbreeding, not only NUS/NTU. inbreeding is frowned upon in scientific community and will drag down the reputation of the university. That's why Singapore lose some talented people to overseas universities and end up doing stupid stuff at DSO/AStar/ST which is a shame, but that is a consequence of our small size.

I'm referring to tenure track. Those very few who get hired back are those who did at least one postdoc overseas. NUS is willing to hire some of their own graduates for teaching track (which is kinda dead end) and you'd tend to be overloaded with teaching. As for getting hired as a research fellow (research track), that's dependent on the PI who hires you, ie he/she keeps you in the lab after you graduate to squeeze more publications out from you as cheap labour. Whether your PI gives a hoot about your career depends on his/her ethics (which is very lacking in many cases I've seen).

 

[Perisher]

Hey guys, I think the topic there is very interesting, I would compile the post here and move it into a new thread in money mind soon. Let me know if anyone has opinions against it.

The topic is about the NUH/NUS studies, the experience and the $$ involved with the relevant post.

 

[madtari]

Is there anyone else who realized under the portfolio, the 'P&L + Div + closed position' and its % are now not available anymore?

 

[Average]

FYP is "sacrificable" compared to a research masters of PhD. The former is not expect to give particularly novel results or substantial work, while the latter two requires sufficient amount of novel work to actually pass (by right, but by left some people weasel pass it...).

For my FYP, I wasn't under a graduate student, but answered directly to the professor. He was the most responsible (and nicest) professor I met in the department. For that FYP I tio jackpot.

Talk to those who have done it for recommendations on who is the best. Don't simply do it based on topic alone.

thanks. i see i see.

 

[StockBot]

See u all can study so much jin goods

I only really studied till diploma, did computer engineering
Degree is "buy" private UK paper then go work in bank liao

 

[starfish.starfish]

Hey guys, I think the topic there is very interesting, I would compile the post here and move it into a new thread in money mind soon. Let me know if anyone has opinions against it.

The topic is about the NUH/NUS studies, the experience and the $$ involved with the relevant post.

Nothing to do with money mind as well.
But yes pls shift it.

 

[StockBot]

Nothing to do with money mind as well.
But yes pls shift it.

Yeah shift to money mind and make offical education thread for investors

I think/view education as a sort of investment too
Got good and bad ones for sure lol

 

[thevaluefund]

stockbot, does your sgxcafe fully reflect the all in ?

I old liao

not studying anymore

all into stock market already LOL

huat ah $$$$$$$$$$$