Ganesh Ji Omar
Nationality:
India
Current Job:
Research Fellow, NUS
Graduation:
2021
Degree:
PhD
Faculty and Department:
Science, Physics
Undergraduate University:
Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Bhopal, India
Why did you choose to do a PhD?
To be honest, during my undergraduate studies, I was passionate about Physics and wanted to explore that passion and to create valuable advancement in my research interest. I enjoyed doing more experiments and wanted to expand my perspectives by creating something entirely new. The only finest opportunity I realized during my undergrads is pursuing a PhD degree and exploring these concepts in detail. One of the great things in PhD which I learned is to conduct even your own research and contribute to the subject.
Why did you choose to do graduate education at NUS? If you received offers from other universities, why did you pick NUS?
First, I am honored and proud to be the recipient of NUS Alumni.
NUS is perennially Asia’s best university and one of the top overall universities in the world. Attending NUS was a dream after I graduated bachelor’s and master’s degree in physics from the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Bhopal. NUS signifies the highest pursuit of excellence, and I was truly inspired by the NUS vibrant and respectful culture of learning.
My PhD Supervisor Prof Ariando and Prof Venky are world-leading experts in the oxide research community. I was excited by their research interest and projects. This was also one of the major reasons why I have decided to pursue my PhD in NUS.
How does graduate school compare to your undergraduate experience?
The Experience of graduate school in NUS was totally enthralling compared to my undergraduate studies in India. I never had such an amazing vibrant multicultural eco-friendly cultural experience anywhere before. On the other hand, in my PhD, I had a quite clear idea of research from the beginning which was not available during my undergraduate.
Briefly share about your research or thesis (i.e. dissertation topic for Masters by Coursework students).
My research centers around the physics and devices of functional materials, with a particular emphasis on the strongly correlated complex oxides. My research work aims to explore correlated oxides that can exhibit a strong spin-orbit effect and triggers a fascinating quantum phenomenon.
What impact do you hope to have with your research?
With the dawn of the internet-of-things and artificial intelligence, computing power and big data are essential, where current devices’ inefficiency is the major obstacle. I am designing and developing spintronics devices with the motivation to solve the pressing problem of high energy consumption in CMOS technology. By exploring new device concepts, I strongly believe, I can create a strong impact on semiconducting technologies.
If you have won any academic prize/competition or been invited to speak at an international conference—share what it is, its significance, and how you worked towards achieving it.
My greatest accomplishment was to receive the Materials Research Society (Singapore) Medal, a gold medal is awarded to the Doctor of Philosophy graduate in the Department of Physics with the most outstanding thesis. I have received several other academic awards during PhD studies in NUS, including Best Graduate Researcher Award (2020), IEEE Gold Medallist in Magnetic Symposium (2020), and Global Young Scientist Summit (2020).
I have been invited to speak about my research work at an International Conference on Functional Materials Science 2020 (5th ICFMS 2020). This year, I have been invited from several universities and institutes in India to speak about my research work and to encourage undergraduate students about career opportunities in Physics. Details can be found in my webpage (https://sites.google.com/view/ganeshjiomar/home).
During my PhD, I learned that the only route to achieve any award or achievement is to keep doing your work steadily without distraction.
Share something fun from your graduate journey at NUS.
I do enjoy traveling. I traveled to many places around the world to present my research work to make a balance between my work and fun. I traveled to Switzerland, France, Malaysia, Indonesia in pre-COVID time.
Share a challenge you faced in graduate school and how you overcame it.
We are living in a very uncertain and difficult time because of the pandemic, which has significantly hindered research progress in a range of fields including Physics research work. The situation can be mentally and emotionally draining due to the restrictions and constraints that we need to follow. During these pandemic challenges, At the start, it was challenging to get back into the habit of spending hours writing/reading papers from home. Additionally, finding a work balance from home was not easy. However, online discussions with colleagues and professors have been very effective. Still, despite COVID-19, I was able to make the last year, a very productive year of my PhD studies. I published several new articles and have doubled my writing and reading efforts compared to previous years. I developed new collaborative skills to build networking and learned working as team. Cooking is another skill, I embedded into my daily routine during work from home. During this period, I initiated several worldwide collaborations, participated in international conferences, and presented my research work. I started more communications via emails and frequent text messages instead of the usual face-to-face chats. This way, my desire to undertake relevant research on Physics keeps me motivated, inspired, and work towards my goals to understand more new concepts.
My advice to the present students from the department will be to take one day at a time, and set small, realistic goals to sustain their productivity. I would also like to encourage students to take care of their mental well-being during these tough times and unwind and relax to reduce stress and anxiety. Interact, engage, motivate, and support each other during this pandemic and beyond.
Of course, there will be existential crisis times when you might question yourselves, feel lost, depressed, trapped, and feel like no light at the end of the tunnel. But Then Again remember why you started, and you are here for a reason. You have been given an opportunity. We are all here to challenge ourselves, to change, improve the world, to learn, to share, and care through our research. It’s time to take all opportunities and make decisions, to do our best and give the best to the world.
“Remember you can, and you will. Start working smartly and be happy.”
How did NUS prepare you for your career?
NUS offered a wonderful academically stimulating and vibrant collaborative environment to pursue my research interest. Besides that, NUS provided fitness/gym facilities, excellent food choices, and great places to stay which is needed for peaceful graduation. NUS with its vibrant culture has provided extracurricular activities to explore which is vital for career development and personal growth. Today, I dream about becoming a successful researcher/scientist in Physics and I am confident that the training and skills, NUS provided me, will enable me to achieve this goal.
What message would you like to give to students interested in graduate studies in NUS?
“Always step beyond your comfort zone.”
“Look for opportunities to challenge yourself.”
“Courage is the gateway!”