Hermanni Heimonen
Nationality:
Finland
Current Job:
Quantum Engineer, IQM Quantum Computers
Graduation:
2020
Degree:
PhD
Faculty and Department:
Integrative Sciences & Engineering Programme
Undergraduate University:
The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Hong Kong
Why did you choose to do a PhD?
It was clear already during high school that I was deeply interested in understanding how nature works. I wanted to ask the big, fundamental questions about the world. Physics is the language we use to study and answer those questions. It was clear to me that if I really wanted to be able to spend my time asking those big questions, a PhD was the only path for me.
Why did you choose to do graduate education at NUS? If you received offers from other universities, why did you pick NUS?
When I was applying for PhD positions I had decided quantum tech was going to be my field. The Centre for Quantum Technologies (CQT) at NUS really stood out to me by it’s research focus and the people there. The theoretical physicists at CQT had a lot of overlap with my research interests, and it also helped that the university is near the city with all its hustle and bustle.
How does graduate school compare to your undergraduate experience?
“Like day and night. In undergraduate I was collecting completed classes, and trying to learn according to how someone else thought I should learn. It was interesting to get an overview of many topics, but I never really felt I learned the topics well. Once I got to CQT and got to freely learn about topics that were relevant to my research, with plenty of time to spend on each topic, I really started to properly learn and get a feeling of mastery. It took a lot of time though! My first few times attending our group meetings was scary, because I understood almost nothing. It took me 2 years before I regularly started to be able to follow beyond the second or third slide.
The other big difference was the classmates. Taking graduate courses with just a few other students in a specialised topic is just so much better than sitting in a lecture hall with 100 other undergraduates. When you have 6 classmates and the professor is teaching the topic in a much more conversational way, you can learn 1000x better.”
Briefly share a highlight from your graduate school journey.
In my first year I was asked by one of the postdocs at my centre to participate in teaching at a quantum physics summer camp for JC students. I had amazing fun at the camp, and for 3 years since I was in charge of organising the camp. It was fantastic to think of fun and clever ways to teach the difficult topic to the eager students and seeing the camp getting better and better year after year thanks to our teachers was just a joy. Thanks to all the instructors, organisers and student at QCamp!
Share a challenge you faced in graduate school and how you overcame it.
In the beginning it was quite a challenge for me to get up to speed. I was working by myself on a research topic that I had no background in, and results were expected. I really struggled because I could not understand any of the texts I was supposed to understand. Instead I spent my time avoiding my ‘job’ and studying more fundamental topics in physics that I found easier and more interesting. After 1.5 years I had to have a hard conversation with my supervisor about the fact that this was not going to work, and I would never finish my PhD unless we change topics soon. Luckily he was very supportive and helped me find a new topic that was interesting to both of us and aligned with his other research directions.