Ewan

Ewan Munro

Nationality: United Kingdom
Current Job: CTO, Entropica Labs, Singapore
Graduation: Centre for Quantum Technologies (CQT), Year 2017
Undergraduate: University of Edinburgh, United Kingdom

"A PhD gives you a unique chance to dig into a topic and become a true world expert in it, so try to avoid the temptation to get involved in many different projects at once."

In retrospect, would you still have chosen to do a PhD? Why?

Yes, because it gives you an avenue to pursue and develop your own ideas, and execute on them in a way that you choose. This kind of intellectual freedom greatly amplifies your opportunity for learning both domain-specific and transferable skills.

On hindsight, would you have chosen the same research topic for your PhD?

When I started my PhD, the precise research topic was still to be defined. However, the direction I eventually took combined a lot of computational work and programming, theoretical analysis, and interaction and discussion with experimental groups. It was a great area for applying highly theoretical ideas to practical and relevant problems, and this mix has served me very well in my role at Entropica Labs.

Name 2 - 3 things you wished you had been told when you started graduate school?

  • It’s better to become very good at one thing than to be average at many things. A PhD gives you a unique chance to dig into a topic and become a true world expert in it, so try to avoid the temptation to get involved in many different projects at once.

  • During a PhD, gaps in your knowledge will always be exposed to you – you’ll need to get comfortable with this idea. Realise that the gaps that you choose to go off and fill are what will ultimately define your unique skillset, and potentially the entire course of your PhD.

  • You should try to gain exposure to as many ideas as possible. The best way to do this is to discuss, discuss, discuss. Ask other researchers to explain their work to you, as often it will save you having to read lengthy papers or textbooks. Use them as a sounding board for your own ideas, because you might end up with a suggestion that helps you break through obstacles in your work.