Words of Wisdom

At the victory supper celebrating a successful defense of one's Ph.D. thesis, the Ph.D. candidate imparts words of wisdom. These are the words of wisdom of ESPL graduates.

Thomas Kite

  1. The quality of interaction with your advisers is proportional to your willingness to interact with them.
  2. Be confident that your work is good and that other people want to read it.
  3. Talk to the guys [and girl] in the lab. They may have useful things to say--or they may just brighten up your day.

Dong Wei

  1. Work hard
  2. Work smart
  3. Enjoy life

Murat Torlak

  1. If you think that you have made a major breakthrough, then your solution is probably wrong. Check your solution.
  2. The happiness of your advisors is inversely proportional to the happiness of your family.
  3. Doing a Ph.D. makes you an expert in three areas: time management, money management, and your research area.

Biao Lu

  1. Choose the proper advisor.
  2. Respect everyone in the lab as your teacher.
  3. Doctorate of Philosophy for women is Doctorate of Impressive.

Niranjan Damera-Venkata

  1. Be consistent and balanced in your work schedule -- put some effort into your work everyday.
  2. Work on some problem for the sake of the problem and not because it has any practical value.
  3. Always try to share your ideas with your labmates and seek professors for their help.

Guner Arslan

  1. Share your knowledge -- knowledge increases with sharing.
  2. Your work is only as good as you present it.
  3. Help your friends when they need help -- eventually you will need help too.

Milos Milosevic

  1. Rely on your self -- nobody wants your Ph.D. more than you do.
  2. Rely on your friends -- because they mean good to you, and rarely you can do on your own.
  3. Keep your chin up and hopes alive -- because end will come in a good way.

Dogu Arifler

  1. There is no such thing as a perfect research problem, so don't spend many years trying to find one
  2. When you realize that there is too much to be done, you're ready to graduate
  3. Goethe: "Enjoy when you can, endure when you must".

Ming Ding

  1. Broadband: don't be too narrow in your approach
  2. High-speed: utilize time efficiently
  3. Communication: talk to your supervisor, group members, and others

Serene Banerjee

  1. Have a positive frame of mind
  2. Always have faith, but don't think about fear
  3. Never compete with anyone, including yourself, rather enjoy your work

Vishal Monga

  1. Take coursework seriously--it's the foundation for good research and is not a distraction.
  2. Think more and code less--analyze the problem well before writing code.
  3. Respect your peers and learn from them--ethnic diversity implies intellectual diversity.

Zukang Shen

  1. Be humble and learn from everyone.
  2. Do not be afraid to start new work. Just do it!
  3. Listen to your advisor and committee members. (They remember the comments they made in your qualifying exam during your defense.)

Kyungtae Han

  1. Make it better than yesterday.
  2. Stick to your interests.
  3. Relax as much as possible.

In addition, we have also included the words of wisdom for Prof. Brian L. Evans on the event of receiving tenure and promotion:

Brian L. Evans (tenure)

  1. Stick to your principles.
  2. Look for mutual collaboration.
  3. Balance everything, your mental, spiritual, emotional, and physical lives.