Hong Ming Tan
Nationality:
Singapore
Faculty and Department:
Institute Of Operations Research And Analytics
Year of Study:
4
Undergraduate University:
National University of Singapore
Why did you choose to do a PhD?
I remember when I was about 6 years old, my mother asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up. I responded without any hesitation “a scientist!”, along with a clear picture of Albert Einstein in my head. I choose to pursue a PhD as I wanted to make an impact on the world, contribute to knowledge, and leave a legacy that is not about making as much money as possible. Being a researcher also sounds cool as hell (at least to me) and being able to work on difficult problems is both painful and fun.
Why did you choose to do graduate education at NUS? If you received offers from other universities, why did you pick NUS?
I am Singaporean, so being able to stay with my family and loved ones played a big role. NUS is also one of the best universities in the world, so it was not a difficult choice for me. Singaporeans get a little more stipend which was helpful.
How does graduate school compare to your undergraduate experience?
Graduate modules are a little more intense as compared to undergraduate modules. There is also a lot more thinking and problems are not solved in a day. Research is an on-going process and every day I am thinking about how to approach my problem. There is a lot more interaction with my supervisor and other professors. Teaching undergraduates is fun and fulfilling. Graduate life is like working life, but you perform research and teaching duties. Undergrad was basically school life.
Briefly share about your research or thesis (i.e. dissertation topic for Masters by Coursework students).
We show that under a dynamic information acquisition process, the investor’s unconditional expected optimal quantity of information and investment amount are higher than those under the corresponding static information acquisition process. However, when the initial belief of the investment payoff is either high or low, static and dynamic information acquisitions provide similar expected results. To incentivize firms to acquire information and invest when the initial belief of a risky investment payoff is mediocre, governments should allow firms to obtain information dynamically. This has implications on, e.g., clinical trials. Furthermore, the falling marginal cost of information raises investment amounts and leverage, which leads to higher losses during crises. Hence, companies need to understand their tail risks better.
Share something fun from your graduate journey at NUS.
I got to travel the world to attend conferences. I have travelled to more places in my graduate life than I have in my entire life – though this may be because I did not travel a lot before graduate school. In my graduate journey, I’ve had the opportunity to visit Paris, Nice, Brisbane, Seattle, Boston, and Taiwan.
Briefly share a highlight from your graduate school journey.
The highlight of my graduate school journey has to be my research exchange to MIT. I got to visit MIT for 2 months before it was cut short due to COVID19. Being at MIT let me interact with other students and professors, and see how life was at a MIT. But the most memorable was I found out my wife was pregnant with my first baby shortly after I left for MIT. My wife gave birth to my son during my fourth year at NUS.
Share a challenge you faced in graduate school and how you overcame it.
Research is the greatest challenge. I was stuck on a problem for months, which was demoralizing. Going on walks thinking about the problem, talking to other people about the problem, and being creative and looking at the problem from a different angle helps. Searching the literature for related problems to see how other researchers solved it. My wife was also extremely supportive and though she couldn’t help technically, her moral support was invaluable.
Do you have any interesting personal stories to share? For example, about your journey to get into graduate school, personal hobbies/interests.
“I failed my first attempt at getting a PhD from the department of mathematics as I did not pass my qualifying exams. I had on-going relationship problems, and was really depressed. Graduate modules being difficult did not help, and I fell into despair.
I thought I was done with research, but my supervisor invited me to continue to work for him and try again at the Institute of Operations Research and Analytics. I thought long and hard and decided that I should not give up on my dream so easily. Not everyone has an opportunity to try again.
They say that failure is the best teacher and my experience from my first attempt definitely helped me be more resilient. I understood that struggles are common in graduate school, and we have to persevere and keep the course. I understood that it is important to talk to fellow graduate students and make friends. Asking for help when you need it is not weak. Everybody needs help some time, in one way or another. I approached the qualifying exams better and really put a lot of effort in studying and preparing. I talked to more professors and tried to be more proactive in the institute, volunteering for leadership positions. My director said that you can only do good research when you are happy, and after going through my journey, I find that I agree with him.”
What message would you like to give to students interested in graduate studies in NUS?
Make sure that a PhD is something that you really want, and know the reasons why. It is going to be difficult, there will be times that you will question yourself and your decisions. You will have friends out in industry who are drawing more pay, and getting promotions while you are stuck doing research and earning a nominal stipend. These are the times you fall back to your ideals and your purpose and let them anchor your thoughts and emotions.