A cornerstone of my education at Yale-NUS College was the opportunity to do physics research with a faculty supervisor, especially over the summer in the form of a Summer Research Project (SRP). I was incredibly fortunate to be able to complete two SRPs during my second and third years, during which I worked extensively in setting up an elaborate physics experiment that will in the short future be able to explore exciting physics with very cold atoms and laser light. My cumulative SRP experience was quite meaningful, since it transitioned naturally into my final year into my Physical Sciences capstone project. Moreover, it equipped me with the right skillset and technical know-how to continue my journey at the Centre for Quantum Technologies (CQT), where I am currently investigating the cutting-edge physics of cold atoms trapped in crystal-like structures created by overlapping beams of laser light.

My experience majoring in Physical Sciences at Yale-NUS College was wonderful. With small class sizes and mostly seminar-style teaching, students and faculty members really get to know and learn from one another. I, like many others, was also given the freedom to explore multiple branches of physical sciences by working with different professors in their research projects during my four years at Yale-NUS College. The Physical Sciences training at Yale-NUS really laid the foundation for both my academic and professional success in years to come.

Majoring in Physical Sciences gave me the freedom (and preparation) to follow my curiosity into unfamiliar territory. It taught me to see the underlying interconnectedness of seemingly orthogonal avenues of research. The many interesting conversations that arose from having an insect lab and a laser lab next to the organic chemistry lab where I worked on my capstone continue to shape the way I approach science. For my PhD in Computer Science at Nanyang Technological University, I am exploring how neural networks used in automated speech recognition can be applied to the analysis of nuclear magnetic resonance images of large proteins by transcribing the “sound” of these proteins. I would not have been able to propose or pull together the supervisors needed to pursue this topic if not for the breadth of experiences I had as a Physical Sciences major at Yale-NUS.

Studying Physical Sciences at Yale-NUS was a lot of fun for me— the dedicated faculty members and friends were always around to share unending conversations about sciences. Classes were never dull as we were always pushed to explore prevalent everyday scientific problems using concepts that not only drew from our science textbooks but also other disciplines. Today, I am still trying to formulate my own answer to the question “What is this thing called Science?”, but I know for sure that my time at Yale-NUS has taught me that “community” is an integral part of it. I am currently pursuing a PhD in Chemistry at Yale University with interest in the total synthesis of natural product.