By  Willstudy & NTUOIA

> Students: Jessie Lin and Chen Shuang-Shuang
> University: National Taiwan University, Department of Physics, Year 2

Experience at National Taiwan University
Choosing a Department: Why did you choose to study physics?

Shuang: I can trace back my fascination with physics to the shock I felt when watching Interstellar in middle school. I am really fascinated by the vastness of the universe; I just really like it. I was first captivated by the mysteriousness and all-encompassing nature of astronomy, and then in order to better grasp the origins and evolutions of celestial bodies and astronomical phenomenon, I decided to study physics. So, when it came to choosing a university and department, the NTU Department of Physics was my first and only choice. 

Jessie: I started taking an advanced science class when I was in high school, and I actually didn’t have any special feelings towards physics then. But when I joined NTU’s “High School Science Talent Program,” I often came to the Department of Physics to take classes. Maybe as I got more and more familiar with it, physics became one of my interests. When it was time to sign up for the science fair, I naturally chose a research topic to do with physics. As many of my classes and extracurriculars centered around physics, when I was applying to university it was natural that NTU’s physics department was my first choice. 

Studying Physics: Struggles and Doubts When Starting University

Shuang: Although I am very invested in the field of astronomy, the mountain of foundational courses during the first two years of university are enough to make anyone think: “Do I really need to study this much?” But after accumulating more academic experience and physics knowledge, looking back I realize that the road to do research is like building a skyscraper; only with the most stable foundation will you have the opportunity to pursue greater heights. 

Jessie: I have a more pragmatic personality, so when exploring physics I wanted to study more industry-related topics. But during the first year there aren’t many opportunities to study Astrophysics, High-Energy Physics, Condensed Matter Physics, etc. It’s more focused on foundational physics, foundational chemistry, and lab courses. Because this was so different from my expectations, I lost track of the reason why I was studying this. For a time, I was just facing my homework with a coping attitude. 

But like Shuang said, when you get to the second year there are opportunities to take more elective courses to explore different directions, and a lot of the foundational knowledge from the previous year is applied to more advanced courses. I also started to find my passion in Condensed Matter Physics. I think the vast majority of university students will wonder whether their choice of department was the right one, and actually many people are not able to develop a passion for physics in a short amount of time. But the double major, minor, and interdisciplinary study programs are well organized at NTU, and can help new students learn knowledge across fields. Within my department, many of my classmates discovered their future path in the Department of Atmospheric Science, the Department of Geosciences, or other departments. 

Studying Physics: Exploring Development within the Field (Condensed Matter Physics, High Energy Physics, and Astrophysics) 

Shuang: Since I had already found passion and interest for astronomy, when I began university I couldn’t wait to explore the recourses on campus. I was lucky to have professors willing to let me participate in lab research projects even in my first year. Then last summer vacation when I participated in the Summer College Student Program, I started exploring my own research topic. It focuses on discussing the evolution of galaxy clusters through data analysis and simulation. 

Even though while researching my own topic I wondered whether I had would have more enthusiasm for a field other than astrophysics, my curiously and satisfaction towards astronomy and cosmology has been a highlight since middle school. So, I hope I will continue to research and study them. 

Jessie: Due to the course load for the first and second year, if I wasn’t able to find a future direction I would feel hesitant. So, in my second year I took the third-year course, “Foundational Physics Experiments.” The course introduces students to the basic experiments that will be used in condensed matter physics. The process of repeatedly creating and observing materials helped calm my uncertain state of mind. 

Once after midterms, our professor was kind enough to give us a tour of the labs he is in charge of, and asked if any of us have the desire to join a laboratory in the future. It was then that I realized a lot of the experiments and materials we studied in class are really being used within our own physic department’s labs. At the same time, during my first visit to Adaemica Sinica’s Quantum Materials Group, thermoelectricity really captured my interest, to the point that right after the visit I contacted Dr. Yang-Yuan Chen asking for his advice on getting into the field. Dr. Chen warmly welcomed me to participate in a project at Academica Sinicia in my spare time. I would advise any student regardless of your department, if you ever have feelings of doubt about your major, you can try asking more questions, observing more, and exploring more. 

Experience at the Research Internship in Houston, USA
Participating in Rice University’s Tomodachi Program

Shuang: Other factors aside, one of my biggest incentives to apply for the Tomodachi Program (known as the MACHI Program in Taiwan) was the chance to go to the USA. Especially compared with personal travel or being an exchange student, the chance to take part in Rice University’s special research program really spoke to my heart, because going to the USA to continue studying astronomy as always been my goal. Even though I wasn’t familiar with Rice University, after doing some research I discovered that due to the school’s close proximity to the NASA Space Center, it’s known internationally in the field of astronomy. Adding the fact that due to the pandemic I hadn’t left Taiwan in the past two or three years, I really didn’t hesitate to grasp this opportunity.

Jessie: I agree with many things that Shuang said, participating in the Tomodachi Program was the first time I went to USA. The chance to take the research field I was familiar with in Taiwan and experience it in the USA was brand-new. Also, what’s the most exciting part of this program is that in the last week they take us on a tour of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). Visiting this palace is like a dream come true for physics students. 

A Women’s Leadership Program: About the Program and Application Process

Rice University Professor Junichiro Kono began The Tomodachi STEM Women’s Leadership and Research Program to support the development of women in STEM fields. Originally this program was for Japanese undergraduate women studying in STEM fields, giving them the opportunity to go the USA for a short-term exchange program. This year, thanks to the efforts of Professor Shi-Wei Chu of the Department of Physics and the previous head of the Science and Technology Group of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Houston, Professor Jiun-Haw Lee, two more places were given to NTU undergraduate women. Through this program, students from Taiwan, Japan, and the USA have exchange opportunities within their academic field. 

The application process is similar to that of standard academic exchanges; you have to provide the application form, English language test certificate, CV, essay questions and other basic materials. The NTU candidates first have an interview with Professor Chu about the program, and then a final interview with the program director Professor Kono. 

Rice University: Discovering the Research Environment in the USA

Shuang: For research in the astronomy field, a lot of time is given to coding, and compared with other physics fields there is access to more advanced instruments in the USA. But the research methods are similar to what I experienced in Taiwan. 

What surprised me was the research atmosphere there. A lot of my classmates in the research lab were already immersed in their own research projects. At first, I thought we would be spending most of our time in the lab, but we often went out for dinners and other things, and even then people were always discussing their research. For someone like me who is so keen on astronomy, this warm and friendly environment was a dream come true. 

Jessie: Each research environment I have been in has its own characteristics. At Rice University, each research room has fewer people, so there are more chances to get to know your peers and professors. The advantage of having less people is that the professor can spend more time with each student individually. At least once a week there was a group meeting to discuss research progress and any problems we may have encountered. It was really stressful at first, but once I got into the rhythm I thought it was great. During that time in the USA, my views on the field grew a lot. 

Tomodachi Program: The Research Internship Project

Shuang: For a private university, Rice is quite small, it only has 1/9 of the students that the University of Houston has. That smaller student to teacher ratio gave me the chance to have a meeting with my professor twice a week. The also pushed me to progress more between each meeting, so that I wasn’t wasting precious time with the professor.  

I was mostly focused on data analysis work in the US; I was predicting cycles of solar storms using relevant data from solar physics collected through telescope observations. I’ve stayed in touch with my professor since coming back to Taiwan. I hope I am able to finish my research project at Rice even though this program is over, the professor really helped me a lot. 

Jessie: Something else that came from this trip to the US was that I learned how to grow through a multicultural environment. At first, I was worried that English not being my first language would influence my studies there. But then I realized that many of us there, from the professor, who is Romanian, to my classmates, some from India and China, have all dealt with that, so we can give each other more support and encouragement. 

In the states I continued doing research in condensed matter physics, and the lab I was in focused on researching Bulk. The material I worked with was called the YbIr3Si7 crystal. I built on previous scientists’ research, adding new elements and finding new properties and changes. 

Tomodachi Program: Meeting Classmates from Japan

Shuang: The participants in this year’s Tomodachi program included 10 students from the University of Tsubaka, Keio University, Waseda University, and the Tokyo Institute of Technology in Japan, as well as 5 students from National Taiwan University and National Chung Hsing University in Taiwan. 

When they assigned our dorm rooms, they paired each student from Taiwan with a student from Japan. Since this STEM program includes students from a wide range of fields, my roommate happened to be from the mechanical engineering department of Meiji University. One of her dreams is to come to the US to help build rockets. Even though our fields are different, we often discussed space related topics and developed a close friendship. 

Jessie: I learned from my Japanese classmates that the percentage of women studying in STEM fields in Japan is quite low, and even fewer study physics. My roommate was from the relatively more popular field of biotechnology (from Nagoya University’s Department of Life Sciences), so we didn’t have that much in common with regards to specialty. 

Luckily, I’ve been studying Japanese since middle school and high school, and since I am able to chat fluently in Japanese, my conversation with my roommate were mostly about tourism and cultures in Japan. It was a great chance to work on my language skill. Since the week after we got to the US happened to be the Lantern Festival, we took the chance to share some Taiwanese food and culture from the festival with the Japanese students, doing some low-key diplomacy.