A male student from Hanoi with a bachelor’s degree applies directly to a MIT doctorate degree

In 2014, Dao Phuong Khoi (SN 1996) became one of the Vietnamese representatives to attend the Asian Physics Olympiad in Singapore and the International Physics Olympiad in Kazakhstan. In both competitions, Khoi won the Silver Medal.

More than 7 years later, Phuong Khoi initially set foot on her dream of becoming one of the few Vietnamese students to successfully win a PhD scholarship at the world’s top school – Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Massachusetts Institute of Technology). MIT).

The journey to MIT, according to Khoi, has been cherished by him since he was a physics student at the High School for the Gifted of Natural Sciences.

Dao Phuong Khoi used to represent Vietnam at the Asian Physics Olympiad in Singapore and the International Physics Olympiad in Kazakhstan in 2014.

Immediately after winning national and international awards – although extremely meaningful and proud, but most of all, what makes Khoi feel appreciated is the abundant amount of knowledge he received during his training with the team. recruit.

“I had the opportunity to learn more in-depth content areas, equivalent to the general physics knowledge of the first and second years of university.

Instead of studying in an exam-preparation style, I learned about the nature of physics and various phenomena in life. Therefore, after that period is over, I still want to continue to study more deeply. This is also the reason why I want to study for a doctorate at top research universities.”

However, before that, Khoi had never thought about studying abroad at bachelor’s level, partly because he understood that his family’s financial condition was not enough to pay for study and living expenses. Therefore, Khoi chose to study at the Bachelor of Talents Faculty of the University of Natural Sciences (Vietnam National University, Hanoi).

After 1 year in Vietnam, 9X realized that, in order to apply for a PhD scholarship at the top universities at the bachelor’s level in the country, even though there were opportunities, it would be less likely. Therefore, although it was quite “quiet” in the university environment at that time, Khoi was still determined to find opportunities to study abroad as soon as possible.

“At that time, I studied both schools in Asia and the US and realized that I still lacked a lot, especially in English ability. But in the end, I still decided to apply to KAIST – Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology and was granted a full scholarship by this school to study two disciplines at the Department of Physics and Materials Science at the same time. .

The environment at KAIST, according to Khoi, has many interesting points because of the nature of the school which is a research institute. Therefore, here, students can participate in labs and do scientific research from a fairly early age.

Although the Materials Science department where he studied was not very large, there were more than 30 professors at the top of each lab. The professors are willing to create conditions for students to participate in research and learn more.

“Usually, professors are quite relaxed because they don’t expect too much from students to produce some breakthrough results. Therefore, being proactive in learning is very important.”

While studying at KAIST, Khoi participated in a Materials lab specializing in research on transmission electron microscopy (TEM), in which the specific research direction was on Sodium batteries – replaceable batteries. Current Lithium battery and a Physics lab, which specializes in the development of qualitative phase imaging techniques, for applications in biotechnology and medicine.

Being in contact with fellow researchers at both labs helped Khoi learn more and motivated him to continue his desire to do research.

Desire to be the person who “learns it all”

Participating in research labs early is also an advantage of the Vietnamese student. As a result, before graduating, Khoi was a co-author of 3 articles in prestigious international journals.

Research experience, according to Khoi, is quite important for someone who wants to continue studying for a doctorate right after graduating from a bachelor’s degree.

“For an article to be published in prestigious journals can take more than 2 years. Therefore, if you don’t start early, it will be very difficult to get your name in a paper before graduation. In addition, participating in research early will also help students familiarize themselves with the work of a PhD student. Once they understand the lab and the research process, students will also have a better orientation for the future direction.”

In 2020, Khoi graduated valedictorian from the Department of Physics at KAIST. With careful preparation, the Vietnamese guy was admitted to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology as desired. In addition, he is also offered scholarships by 4 other top schools to study PhD, including: Yale University, University of Chicago, University of Illinois, Northwestern University.

Because of the epidemic, Khoi decided to take a year back to study full-time with a professor at KAIST before continuing his journey as a PhD student. During this time, 9X also took advantage to learn many valuable lessons for the research process.

Phuong Khoi and her friend are also PhD students at MIT.

Up to now, when he has been studying at MIT for nearly a year, many interesting things here have attracted the Vietnamese student.

“If in Korea, the senior-junior culture is quite common, that is, the professor will guide the postdoc and the final year PhD students, who will guide the first-year PhD students, then the next year. students, etc., in the US, all members of the lab will be able to work directly with the professor, and this is always encouraged.”

Especially at MIT, the school always creates conditions for graduate students to spend the first semester to contact professors and choose their own lab.

What the school expects is not to find students “know it all” (know all) which is “learn it all” (learn all).

Because, when a person knows all may already have certain abilities and sometimes leads that person to believe that there is nothing left to know. Meanwhile, the person who has the ability to learn everything will learn anything and constantly develop to get better and better.

Therefore, according to Khoi, in many cases, after graduating from university, even though he has “led” 4-5 articles, when applying, he still failed to apply to the desired schools. partly because it doesn’t fit the school’s criteria.

On the contrary, there are many PhD students who do not have too much experience, even if they enter the university, they will have to change to a completely new research direction, but they are still accepted into the faculty. The reason, according to Khoi, is because the school doesn’t expect to find a specialist. What schools want is someone who is skilled enough for lifelong learning, willing to research and willing to learn.

Therefore, becoming a person who can “learn everything” is also the goal that Khoi aims for during his studies at MIT.

“Choosing to work on Photonic Nanomaterials – a field that I have not done much at KAIST before, I hope this challenge will help my time at MIT have many new experiences and help me. more mature in the process of doing research”, Phuong Khoi said.

Thuy Nga