PhD in Australia
Tell me about Australia, I am terribly interested ... (C) Zemfira
Hello! If you are also interested in hearing about Australia, I invite you to evaluate my story about how I got the place of a student-researcher or, in other words, a candidate for a PhD degree, at an Australian university. After reading the stories of people who entered universities in Europe, Canada and the United States, I wanted to expand this geography to another continent. In this post I will try to describe the process of obtaining a PhD position from submitting an application to obtaining a visa and coming to this country. If the community is interested in this topic, I will continue it with joy, as comrades from other universities did.
I started the second semester of the master's program at one English university, when I got the idea to continue my education and get a PhD degree. Perhaps I just did not want to say goodbye to student life and I was a little frustrated by the need to find a job. Anyway, I started reading what the Internet knows about this topic. I have to say right away that I aimed my search for vacancies offering scholarships, as I had very little savings, but I didn’t want to continue to consume parental money. After several attempts of varying degrees of success with my university and with several others from Europe, I decided to expand the circle of search and switch to the countries of Oceania - Australia and New Zealand. This part of the planet was terra incognita for me and has long beckoned with itself! A list of universities in this region was opened, and I just began to study their sites for vacancies in research groups of interest to me. At that time I received a master's degree in wireless communication systems, and I had the title of engineer in the specialty microelectronics and semiconductor electronics obtained at the Moscow Power Engineering. I wanted to combine these two areas, and I let the professor from the University of Macquarie know that in the city of Sydney. He redirected my letter to another professor who had interests very similar to mine. I was sent a description of the project being conducted by the university together with an industrial partner, a manufacturer of various high-frequency integrated circuits and a proposal to write a proposal for this topic. The theme is the development of a process monitor for ICs based on gallium arsenide, i.e. the design of such a scheme, the signals which you can determine the state of the process, and, if necessary, reject the plate. A day and a half to read articles from this area and a proposal for several pages sent to the intended head. Due to the impressive time difference, the correspondence had a rather low pace, but that’s how the head got up very early, I was able to exchange several letters with him before I went to bed. I liked my proposal and he suggested that I begin the application process. In the course of communication, I was filled with sympathy for this man, because there was really a lot of help from him.
Since I took the spot with a scholarship, the requirements for the candidate were quite serious - these were high marks, publications, research experience, and, most importantly, two strong recommendations from teachers. Fat cons opposite of almost all points did not scare me. Two teachers who were ready to give me a good recommendation I found, even managed to publish an article on my master’s thesis. At that time I already passed the second session and had an average score at the level of distinction, i.e. more than 70%, which played in my favor (only the estimate for the dissertation was unknown, which I was just writing at that time). With this luggage, I plunged into filling out all the paperwork application. It was necessary to make a certified copy of the passport, provide a certificate from the test of English (I had IELTS, obtained for English uni), a couple of questionnaires, an official certified translation of bachelor and engineer diplomas and any accompanying documentation that could increase my chances of getting the cherished place (recommendation from the former place of employment, letter of admission to the current university and a report card). All documents were sent by express mail, the evaluation procedure took about a month, after which I was informed that they would be happy to see me in their ranks with the provision of scholarships to me, but ... only if my dissertation is rated at no lower than a distinction. “This is very good,” I thought, and began to work on the project with a vengeance. The project was commissioned in early September, and the assessment, according to university policy, was voiced only in mid-October.
From English land, I returned to Moscow with a full set of documents sufficient to apply for an Australian student visa, namely, with a letter from the university, confirming my receipt of a place. But at that time it was pointless to get a visa, because No one expected me in Sydney without an excellent assessment. Here is the meeting of the examination committee, and they give me a rating above 70%, success. Now you can solve the issue with a visa.
Australia is a fairly hospitable country and their immigration policies are relatively mild compared to the States, Britain and even Europe. Candidates for PhD from Russia should provide a number from the official letter from the university about getting a place, you must have medical insurance for the entire period of study (this insurance can be made through the university and it cost about A $ 1600), naturally, a passport is valid. Almost everything. You can apply through the website: you upload a scan of your passport, scans of signed profiles and your photo. Not even a single financial guarantee was required. While everything is very simple, further - not very difficult. During the submission of documents through the site, you are informed that it will be necessary to undergo a medical examination at an authorized center. We are looking for a center, in Moscow the International Organization for Migration (IOM) is engaged in this, they are paid for by inspection (about 10 thousand rubles) and are held at the clinic at the Bolshoy Library. Lenin. The main thing - do not get sick with tuberculosis - make the "scan" of the lungs. Further, all results are sent by mail directly to Australia, and from the moment of receipt of the highest envelope consideration of the application begins. In my case, it took less than a month, after receiving the coveted e-mail, it only remained to arrive at the embassy and paste the visa into the passport.
You can prepare for the trip: the date of arrival is agreed with the head, the plane ticket purchased, accommodation for the first time picked up via the Internet. Farewell to the motherland and almost a full day for the flight with the landing in Singapore and stop there for almost a day. I flew in December, at the height of the Russian winter, and flew in the summer! At the airport in Sydney, I was graciously met by the hostess of the house in which I settled. An Australian couple, having in their house 4 bedrooms, three of them rented over the Internet. I paid a couple of weeks with the expectation that during this time I could find something more permanent, but I was almost immediately offered to stay with them at very favorable rental terms. Since this house was not far from the university, and even with the pool in the courtyard, I easily avoided much thought, especially since people were very pleasant. In the future, they greatly helped me quickly integrate into Australian society. Here it must be said that Sydney is a city with rather unclear borders. Sydney here is called the business center, and everything else - areas (suburbs). Macqaurie University is located just in one of these suburbs about 20 km from the center.
At the appointed time, I came to the university, where I was waiting for a meeting with my supervisor. When I met this cheerful person in the corridor, I recognized him immediately, and he recognized me. He turned out to be an American who moved to Australia, and joked that if he had been told 20 years ago that he would be the head of the Russian, he would never have believed it! This was followed by familiarity with the team.
The scholarship that I received includes two parts: one goes to pay for tuition, and the other goes to pay for my stay, i.e. my salary, so to speak, which is quite enough to rent a room and not deny myself anything gastronomically. As it was said by colleagues from other countries, they pay so much that they can live, but save nothing. In fact, with a certain frugality, you can accumulate quickly enough, for example, to a car! It is expected that I will write my dissertation in 3 years - a scholarship for this very period. The Australian education process does not provide for a thesis defense - 3 people will be involved in its assessment, one of whom must be from a foreign university. Thus achieve the objectivity of the assessment. At the same time, the student is not informed who exactly his work will be evaluated, they only give a list of 10 persons, probably involved in this process.
')
At the moment, I spent on the Green Continent for 9 months and got almost a complete picture of local customs and lifestyle. I am happy to continue the story about the learning process and about the life of a student on the other side of the equator, if there is interest in this. Questions in the comments are ready to answer! Thanks to everyone who read it!
Hello! If you are also interested in hearing about Australia, I invite you to evaluate my story about how I got the place of a student-researcher or, in other words, a candidate for a PhD degree, at an Australian university. After reading the stories of people who entered universities in Europe, Canada and the United States, I wanted to expand this geography to another continent. In this post I will try to describe the process of obtaining a PhD position from submitting an application to obtaining a visa and coming to this country. If the community is interested in this topic, I will continue it with joy, as comrades from other universities did.
Search
I started the second semester of the master's program at one English university, when I got the idea to continue my education and get a PhD degree. Perhaps I just did not want to say goodbye to student life and I was a little frustrated by the need to find a job. Anyway, I started reading what the Internet knows about this topic. I have to say right away that I aimed my search for vacancies offering scholarships, as I had very little savings, but I didn’t want to continue to consume parental money. After several attempts of varying degrees of success with my university and with several others from Europe, I decided to expand the circle of search and switch to the countries of Oceania - Australia and New Zealand. This part of the planet was terra incognita for me and has long beckoned with itself! A list of universities in this region was opened, and I just began to study their sites for vacancies in research groups of interest to me. At that time I received a master's degree in wireless communication systems, and I had the title of engineer in the specialty microelectronics and semiconductor electronics obtained at the Moscow Power Engineering. I wanted to combine these two areas, and I let the professor from the University of Macquarie know that in the city of Sydney. He redirected my letter to another professor who had interests very similar to mine. I was sent a description of the project being conducted by the university together with an industrial partner, a manufacturer of various high-frequency integrated circuits and a proposal to write a proposal for this topic. The theme is the development of a process monitor for ICs based on gallium arsenide, i.e. the design of such a scheme, the signals which you can determine the state of the process, and, if necessary, reject the plate. A day and a half to read articles from this area and a proposal for several pages sent to the intended head. Due to the impressive time difference, the correspondence had a rather low pace, but that’s how the head got up very early, I was able to exchange several letters with him before I went to bed. I liked my proposal and he suggested that I begin the application process. In the course of communication, I was filled with sympathy for this man, because there was really a lot of help from him.
Since I took the spot with a scholarship, the requirements for the candidate were quite serious - these were high marks, publications, research experience, and, most importantly, two strong recommendations from teachers. Fat cons opposite of almost all points did not scare me. Two teachers who were ready to give me a good recommendation I found, even managed to publish an article on my master’s thesis. At that time I already passed the second session and had an average score at the level of distinction, i.e. more than 70%, which played in my favor (only the estimate for the dissertation was unknown, which I was just writing at that time). With this luggage, I plunged into filling out all the paperwork application. It was necessary to make a certified copy of the passport, provide a certificate from the test of English (I had IELTS, obtained for English uni), a couple of questionnaires, an official certified translation of bachelor and engineer diplomas and any accompanying documentation that could increase my chances of getting the cherished place (recommendation from the former place of employment, letter of admission to the current university and a report card). All documents were sent by express mail, the evaluation procedure took about a month, after which I was informed that they would be happy to see me in their ranks with the provision of scholarships to me, but ... only if my dissertation is rated at no lower than a distinction. “This is very good,” I thought, and began to work on the project with a vengeance. The project was commissioned in early September, and the assessment, according to university policy, was voiced only in mid-October.
Expectation
From English land, I returned to Moscow with a full set of documents sufficient to apply for an Australian student visa, namely, with a letter from the university, confirming my receipt of a place. But at that time it was pointless to get a visa, because No one expected me in Sydney without an excellent assessment. Here is the meeting of the examination committee, and they give me a rating above 70%, success. Now you can solve the issue with a visa.
Australia is a fairly hospitable country and their immigration policies are relatively mild compared to the States, Britain and even Europe. Candidates for PhD from Russia should provide a number from the official letter from the university about getting a place, you must have medical insurance for the entire period of study (this insurance can be made through the university and it cost about A $ 1600), naturally, a passport is valid. Almost everything. You can apply through the website: you upload a scan of your passport, scans of signed profiles and your photo. Not even a single financial guarantee was required. While everything is very simple, further - not very difficult. During the submission of documents through the site, you are informed that it will be necessary to undergo a medical examination at an authorized center. We are looking for a center, in Moscow the International Organization for Migration (IOM) is engaged in this, they are paid for by inspection (about 10 thousand rubles) and are held at the clinic at the Bolshoy Library. Lenin. The main thing - do not get sick with tuberculosis - make the "scan" of the lungs. Further, all results are sent by mail directly to Australia, and from the moment of receipt of the highest envelope consideration of the application begins. In my case, it took less than a month, after receiving the coveted e-mail, it only remained to arrive at the embassy and paste the visa into the passport.
Arrival
You can prepare for the trip: the date of arrival is agreed with the head, the plane ticket purchased, accommodation for the first time picked up via the Internet. Farewell to the motherland and almost a full day for the flight with the landing in Singapore and stop there for almost a day. I flew in December, at the height of the Russian winter, and flew in the summer! At the airport in Sydney, I was graciously met by the hostess of the house in which I settled. An Australian couple, having in their house 4 bedrooms, three of them rented over the Internet. I paid a couple of weeks with the expectation that during this time I could find something more permanent, but I was almost immediately offered to stay with them at very favorable rental terms. Since this house was not far from the university, and even with the pool in the courtyard, I easily avoided much thought, especially since people were very pleasant. In the future, they greatly helped me quickly integrate into Australian society. Here it must be said that Sydney is a city with rather unclear borders. Sydney here is called the business center, and everything else - areas (suburbs). Macqaurie University is located just in one of these suburbs about 20 km from the center.
At the appointed time, I came to the university, where I was waiting for a meeting with my supervisor. When I met this cheerful person in the corridor, I recognized him immediately, and he recognized me. He turned out to be an American who moved to Australia, and joked that if he had been told 20 years ago that he would be the head of the Russian, he would never have believed it! This was followed by familiarity with the team.
The scholarship that I received includes two parts: one goes to pay for tuition, and the other goes to pay for my stay, i.e. my salary, so to speak, which is quite enough to rent a room and not deny myself anything gastronomically. As it was said by colleagues from other countries, they pay so much that they can live, but save nothing. In fact, with a certain frugality, you can accumulate quickly enough, for example, to a car! It is expected that I will write my dissertation in 3 years - a scholarship for this very period. The Australian education process does not provide for a thesis defense - 3 people will be involved in its assessment, one of whom must be from a foreign university. Thus achieve the objectivity of the assessment. At the same time, the student is not informed who exactly his work will be evaluated, they only give a list of 10 persons, probably involved in this process.
')
Conclusion
At the moment, I spent on the Green Continent for 9 months and got almost a complete picture of local customs and lifestyle. I am happy to continue the story about the learning process and about the life of a student on the other side of the equator, if there is interest in this. Questions in the comments are ready to answer! Thanks to everyone who read it!
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/151711/
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