Latest news with #PhD
BBC News
17 hours ago
- BBC News
Murdered Plymouth University lecturer awarded posthumous PhD
A university lecturer who was murdered has been awarded a posthumous Chick was stabbed to death in January by her estranged husband, who was jailed for 27 gathered to mourn the 48-year-old, who was also a former nurse, at a candlelit vigil at Plymouth Hoe, with her partner saying "she cared about everyone and was so proud of her family".Plymouth University said the degree would be an "enduring part of her legacy" and a way its staff and students would "continue to remember her". It said: "As well as being an incredibly valued nurse, lecturer, tutor and colleague, Claire was also studying for a PhD at the time of her tragic death earlier this year. "Her PhD was centred around supporting and developing resilience in student nurses, something she was incredibly passionate about, and the award is deserved recognition for everything she achieved."
Japan Times
3 days ago
- Business
- Japan Times
Japan mulls cuts to financial aid for Ph.D. students from abroad
The education ministry is considering limiting the financial support it provides to doctoral students to assist with living expenses so that the funding is only made available to Japanese nationals, according to a draft proposal unveiled by an expert panel on Thursday. The Ph.D. aid program has recently come under fire from some members of parliament, who point out that nearly 40% of those receiving the support are international students despite the fact that the fund aims to foster future human resources in Japan. According to the education ministry, of the 10,564 students who received the aid in fiscal 2024 around 4,125 were international students, including 2,904 from China. The program, known as Support for Pioneering Research Initiated by the Next Generation (SPRING), was started in April 2021 to encourage more people to continue their studies to the doctoral level. The program was launched to tackle a decline in domestic students enrolling in Ph.D. programs due to financial difficulties and concerns over employment prospects, with the goal of fostering the capabilities to drive future innovation. Compared with 10 years ago, for example, the number of Japanese students going into doctoral programs in 2024 was down by 12% while foreign student enrollment increased by 35%. SPRING currently offers students up to ¥2.9 million per year for both research and living expenses, regardless of their nationality. The program has been adopted at 90 universities across the nation, with around 80% of doctoral students at those schools receiving some aid. Under the revised plan, which could go into effect as soon as next April, financial aid that covers living expenses will no longer be offered to international students, given the program's primary goal of encouraging Japanese students to enroll in Ph.D. programs. Financial aid used directly for research, which is, on average, around ¥400,000 per year, would continue to be offered to international students as well. In order to focus support on outstanding students, the amount offered for research would be differentiated depending on the academic and research performance of the student. To attract excellent international students and promote diversity at research institutions, the program is looking to encourage collaboration among universities on globalization efforts. Strengthening measures to help international students find employment after they complete their program of study in Japan is also under consideration. Furthermore, under the revised plan, eligibility for the financial aid used directly for research will be expanded to include working adults with a stable income, to encourage more individuals to explore further studies in the science and technology field. They will not be offered funding for living expenses, but such support will be made available to those who do not receive an income despite being a member of an organization or a company employee. According to the panel, the number of students enrolled in doctoral programs has increased in the past several years, growing from 14,382 in fiscal 2022 to 15,744 in 2024, and recovering close to the levels seen in fiscal 2011. Compared with the previous year, the number of working adults enrolling in Ph.D. programs in 2024 increased by 30, while the number of international students decreased by 118. The expert panel at the education ministry, which was established in April, met for the fourth time Thursday and is expected to submit a midterm report in coming weeks. The panel, which is focused on fostering the next generation of innovators in the science and technology field, is also discussing ways to improve related education in elementary, middle and high schools.
CNA
4 days ago
- Science
- CNA
When a PhD is worth more than the sum of its parts
As a young boy, Dr Ng Kok Min loved playing computer games, especially the kind where each level meant outsmarting a tougher boss. Later, while studying mathematics as an undergraduate, he realised that research had a similar rhythm of progression. Each stage brought a new, more challenging problem to tackle. At academic conferences, he admired how researchers blended technical depth with accessible ideas to push the boundaries of their fields. In 2015, while working as a general education officer in the public sector, he decided to pursue his passion for research and enrolled in the Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in Mathematics at the National Institute of Education, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (NIE NTU, Singapore). NIE offers over 30 graduate courses, including Doctor of Philosophy and Doctor in Education programmes, designed to support the learning and career goals of professionals in education and related industries. Students come from a broad range of countries and backgrounds, creating a vibrant classroom community where new ideas, insights and connections thrive. GUIDED BY RIGOUR, GROWN THROUGH MENTORSHIP Dr Ng chose NIE for a key reason: 'NIE sits at the intersection of research and learning. Being in a community where both intellectual depth and personal growth are valued gave me the assurance to keep going and the space to grow.' For him, the NIE community stands out for its faculty – academically rigorous researchers who are also generous and nurturing mentors. One of them was his research supervisor, Associate Professor Ho Weng Kin. Dr Ng recalled how Assoc Prof Ho patiently worked with him to revise a paragraph in a paper multiple times, until they were both satisfied it was clear and academically sound. Dr Ng's PhD thesis focused on quasi-metrics, which measure distance using factors beyond just physical space. 'Think of walking up and down a flight of stairs – going up often takes more effort or time, even if the actual distance is the same,' he explained. 'This way of looking at distance is meaningful in areas like computer science, where data might flow more easily in one direction than the other, and system updates may come with different costs depending on the direction of change.' What made Assoc Prof Ho's guidance particularly valuable was his breadth of knowledge and openness to different methodologies. His ability to bring in fresh perspectives sparked conversations that helped Dr Ng see his research in new ways. 'He is also a strong advocate for physical health and even invited me to work out at the gym with him,' shared Dr Ng. 'The sessions were so intense, my muscles hadn't felt that sore since army! That mix of academic mentorship and personal encouragement really stuck with me.' SUPPORTIVE STRUCTURES AND CROSS-DISCIPLINARY SYNERGY While the research journey had its challenges, especially when answers proved elusive, Dr Ng found steady support within NIE's academic community and structure. 'NIE provided a clear framework through milestone reviews and coursework, which helped us build a strong foundation. But just as important were the formal and informal platforms for exchange – presenting to peers, discussing roadblocks with supervisors and receiving feedback,' he shared. By organising and participating in graduate and international conferences, and getting involved in the graduate student club, Dr Ng connected with researchers from diverse disciplines – ranging from science and humanities to education. This mix of backgrounds made for particularly rich and dynamic conversations. 'At NIE, the blend of disciplines gave us the rare chance to pursue depth in our own field while gaining breadth in how we think and connect ideas across fields. These cross-disciplinary conversations pushed me to stretch my thinking and encouraged me to approach problems in ways I wouldn't have considered before.' FROM RESEARCH TO REAL-WORLD IMPACT Regular presentations and exposure to different disciplines during his PhD helped Dr Ng learn to communicate complex ideas clearly – especially to those outside his field. This skill proved invaluable when he joined a textbook publishing company in 2018 as a mathematics textbook author before taking on business development responsibilities. In 2022, Dr Ng stepped into a new role as regional education manager at Casio Singapore. His work focuses on designing educational initiatives across Southeast Asia that promote the meaningful integration of technology in teaching and learning. These efforts support Casio's broader goal of advancing its presence in the education sector, as Dr Ng collaborates with ministries, schools and other stakeholders to co-develop programmes aligned with local curricula. 'In business development, you're identifying needs, reviewing existing work and proposing meaningful, sustainable solutions or partnerships. It's not so different from the research process,' he said. 'The mindset I developed through research – building on foundations, connecting ideas and staying open to new possibilities – proved surprisingly transferable.' He shared that the PhD programme trained him to handle complexity, whether in analysing education systems, creating support materials or facilitating cross-border collaboration. In addition, the relationships formed during his research journey still influence his work today, including ongoing collaborations with peers and mentors from NIE, such as Assoc Prof Ho. Looking back, Dr Ng observed that his PhD journey taught him to step back, slow down and analyse problems in depth – skills that helped him design thoughtful solutions and communicate them clearly across different systems and cultures. 'I used to think the research thesis was the end goal,' he reflected. 'But over time, I realised it was the process that changed me most. The thesis is one outcome, but the relationships, habits and mindset you build along the way – that's what stays with you.'
Free Malaysia Today
5 days ago
- Politics
- Free Malaysia Today
Najib could still apply for parole, says lawyer
Former prime minister Najib Razak has obtained a PhD while in prison, says his lawyer, Shafee Abdullah. KUALA LUMPUR : Najib Razak still has a shot at being freed even if he fails to obtain a judicial review on a royal addendum that purportedly allows him to serve the remainder of his prison sentence under house arrest. The former prime minister's lawyer, Shafee Abdullah, said Najib could still apply for parole in September or October. 'And the chances of him obtaining a parole is high considering that his jail term has been reduced to six years and he will receive an automatic remission after two years,' Shafee said. 'Najib has already served three years, so it's just another year left (before he is eligible for an automatic remission). He can be paroled,' he said. Najib is currently serving a six-year jail sentence on charges of abuse of power and corruption in the SRC International case. A Federal Court hearing has been set for July 1-2 on an appeal against a Court of Appeal decision allowing Najib to initiate a judicial review related to the addendum. The Court of Appeal had ordered the High Court to hear Najib's claim of the existence of a royal addendum. Separately, Shafee said that Najib has been a model prisoner. He also said Najib had obtained a doctorate while in prison and therefore saw no reason why he should be denied parole. 'His PhD is about developing the country. Many came to engage him. In many ways he is a model prisoner,' Shafee said.
Japan Times
6 days ago
- Science
- Japan Times
A singular ensemble: Indian food, science and Fukushima
When I first visited Japan in 2014, raw fish over vinegared rice wasn't as much of a culinary shock as the sheer size of naan here. The bread, paired with an almost neon-red butter chicken curry, struck me as a strange take on my homeland's cuisine. The following year, I moved here to enroll in an undergraduate program and found my astonishment growing into disappointment. Indian food, to me, was unrecognizable in the ensemble most commonly seen in Japan. At home, it was Ma's weekday dinner where rice would be eaten in three parts: first with ghee and salt or stir-fried gourd skins (a vestige of British-manufactured famines in India during World War II); second with dal simmered with fish head alongside fried vegetables; third alongside a fish curry with rohu or catla, sweetened tomato chutney and finally a dessert. Growing up in suburban Mumbai, I also have fond memories of Goan pork sausages for breakfast or Anglo-Indian mutton curry (marinated in whiskey for a week) for dinner. Understanding Ma's attention to the individual elements of every meal wasn't just an exercise in gastronomy — it also formed the basis of my own journey in science. After receiving my bachelor's, I went on to pursue my PhD in chemistry, studying protein molecules bound to DNA. In this field of research, there are two major types of experiments: ensemble and single-molecule. The former involves collecting measurements from a large number of molecules, which means producing an average that erases individual nuance. The latter, which my lab focused on, scrutinizes single molecules, one at a time, allowing for a layered understanding of biological mechanisms. Although rewarding, the work itself is difficult. I spent the entire first year of my PhD in a dark room, observing molecules for hours without successful data. When my experiments did work, though, the joy was unmatched. Medium and message Even while working with molecules in lab environments, I always felt a need to connect with human society beyond campus enclosures. When I arrived in Sendai in 2015, there were several volunteer organizations working along the Pacific coast in the aftermath of the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake. My understanding of the 2011 disaster was limited — mostly shaped by Indian media coverage when I was still in middle school. During my first years in Japan, as tourism around the Tohoku region was in decline, I participated in early projects that involved traveling all around to advise local governments on how to better attract and serve international visitors. A few years later, I met Tatsuhiro Yamane, a Tokyo native who had relocated with his family to Futaba, home to the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant. I eventually joined his company, the Futaba Area Tourism Research Association (F-ATRAs), and helped develop walking tours that highlighted the town's history and culture — stories of the everyday that often get buried under the disaster narrative. In 2023, Japan's decision to release treated water into the Pacific drew widespread backlash — not because of flawed data but due to broken trust. Coastal Fukushima is still viewed by some as a zone of fear, its agricultural and fishing industries tainted by the aura of the nuclear disaster. That is why I believe community-building and wresting control of the narrative — the work I'm still involved with through F-ATRAs — are so critical. Communication must adapt to its audience, especially when that audience is skeptical. I took this thought quite literally into my own kitchen in Sendai. In the spring of 2024, I had the opportunity to host a celebratory dinner at home for leaders from my academic institution. I decided to serve my version of Indian cuisine in a multicourse format. One of the dishes I prepared was chicken shahi korma, a white curry said to have been served at the inauguration of the Taj Mahal. Traditionally, curries are garnished with fresh cilantro. But knowing many in Japan are averse to its distinctive flavor, I opted for a local substitution: dried habanori seaweed. With its earthy flavor, habanori preserved the dish's subtlety and blended into the velvety almond-yogurt curry base. It was, in a sense, the same message — just spoken in a different tongue. The molecules of a nation My experience in single-molecule research taught me the value of examining systems at the microscopic level while keeping the broader picture in mind. This shaped how I saw the role of both Indian food and a town like Futaba within Japan. The country, as a unit, is similar to what one would describe as the conditions of an ensemble experiment. Democracy, without proper institutions, can represent only the average opinion of the millions of people within it. However, the framework of the nation-state is rather new. Land and its people existed long before the first nation-state was formed. Coming to Japan as a teenager — and indeed, that first encounter with Indian food in a vastly different cultural context — piqued my interest in the communities that constituted my immediate surroundings, the molecules that build toward the ensemble called 'nation.' Given that science is a product of the human hunger for meaning, Fukushima helped me realize the many ways I could connect science back to the philosophy that birthed it. The scientific method — problem, hypothesis, experiment, conclusion — has broader applications than we credit it for. When I moved from the prefectural capital of Sendai to the small town of Namie, Fukushima Prefecture, in the autumn of 2024, I decided to reorient myself through food. I spent New Year's eve making a box of osechi ryōri (traditional New Year's food), which included the simmered kuwai (arrowroot) of Sendai osechi and the hizunamasu (salmon head cartilage) with daikon radish of Namie osechi — a nod to the places that have come to define my journey in Japan. Mindful of local contexts and the emotional power of food, Banerjee puts his own flourishes on the cuisine he makes at home, whether Indian or Japanese. | Ari Hatsuzawa I also had the chance to revisit the sweetened tomato chutney from my childhood days, where I replaced lemon juice in the traditional recipe with yuzu zest. This spring, I finally created my own fermentation chamber to create my first batch of kōji, Japan's national mold used in everything from sake brewing to miso production. Love is a kind of fermentation. It demands time, and one clings to the sincere hope that something meaningful will come of it. Thousands of people remain displaced from their homes in Tohoku since the 2011 triple disaster. To me, the long-held love of these residents for their hometowns demonstrates a patience akin to making a bowl of miso or soy sauce. I believe the story of Fukushima cannot be told through statistics but rather through a bowl of rice topped with something made slowly, purposefully and with care. Science, food and society all weave a similar tale, suggesting the average can only ever tell part of the story. To truly understand, we must zoom in — to the single molecule, the tomato chutney, the individual citizen. We must stop flattening things into categories and start seeing them as they are: layered, storied and alive.
