I am always eagerly searching for talented and self-motivated students and researchers to join my research group. The greatest aspect of my job is undoubtedly the privilege to work with dedicated students and colleagues who are motivated to do original work. Nevertheless, going to graduate school or working as a postdoc is a very substantial commitment for all parties involved. Since joining Columbia in 2014, I have graduated four Ph.D. students, two of them found tenure track positions (McMaster and Northeastern), and two joined Los Alamos National Laboratory as postdoc research associates. Two of my former postdocs are now assistant and associate professors at the University of Hong Kong and the Chinese Academy of Sciences (see specific job placements in team member page [URL]). That being said, the success of a PhD student depends on many different factors and compatibility is an important one to consider. If you are interested to join my research group, you might find the information below somewhat helpful.
General Recruitment Plan
Generally speaking, I try to recruit one to two graduate students or postdoc per year, depending on the availability and time constraint of funding and my ability to maintain the quality of the research with the existing students and postdoc research associates. My goal in the hiring process is to filter the candidates that are less likely to be successful under my tutelage while trying not to miss any talent that may have potential to do great research.
PhD applicants
The PhD application process begins in the Fall semester each year. The review of the Ph.D. applications typically begins in the spring and ends before the summer. Ideally, the successful Ph.D. candidates should have (1) a master degree in civil engineering, applied mechanics, geomechanics, applied mathematics, or other related disciplines, (2) some background in computational mechanics and reasonable mathematical skills (e.g. linear algebra, partial differential equations), (3) be proficient in Python, C++, Java and/or FORTRAN code developments, and (4) possess excellent communication skills. At the beginning of the Ph.D. study, I expect that the incoming students are at least competent in basic linear algebra and calculus, and have some general ideas about mechanics.
In the past, the maximum team members I recruited in one single year is 3, the lowest is 1. My philosophy is that a student may graduate whenever she/he has a great chance of landing a great position. Ph.D. students in my group on average takes four years to finish their Ph.D. studies if they have a master's degree in a related field. All of my current and former PhD students in my research group have been fully funded during the entire period they work with me.
Typically, students are supported by a combination of fellowships (Fulbright, NDSEG, Presidential fellowship), research assistantship from research grant and teaching assistant support. If the resource is available and that is understandably not always the case, my goal is to have each student serves at least once as TA to get some teaching experience (especially if they are interested at academic position) within the first 2 years of PhD study and then support the last two years of all of my PhD students' work with RA or fellowship.
Postdoc Research scientist/Associate Research Scientist/Research Scientist
Postdoc candidates are recruited based on (1) research accomplishment, (2) future potential, (3) joint interest in the funded research topics, and (4) compatibility, and (5) the research group they graduate from and if applicable (6) the performance of my previous postdoc graduated from the same group of the candidates. Depending on the availability of the funding and the performance of the team members, we typically have one associate research scientist or research scientist in my research group. This position is supported by external funding from research projects and carried the officer rank at Columbia but is generally not open to fresh PhD graduate.
I encourage the applicants who are seriously considering working with me to talk to my current team members as well as the former ones to get a fuller and more balanced picture of the level of commitment required to be successful in my group. I also highly encourage students from the underrepresented groups to join us.
Advising and research styles
While working with Ph.D. students and postdoc fellows, my goal is to find a research theme that (i) makes the student and I both excited about the work, (ii) matches well with the student's key competencies, personality, and work habits, (iii) contains elements that are of fundamental importance, (iv) has sufficient chances to find sustainable funding during and, ideally, beyond the Ph.D. study.
As your research advisor, it is my duty to (1) provide an intellectually stimulating and safe environment for group members to conduct meaningful research, (2) to motivate you to set a high standard for your own research, (3) to provide the nuclei of research ideas, (4) to help you pursue research ideas as efficiently as possible, and (5) to evaluate your intellectual growth critically.
In essence, my goal is to help you do the best research possible and keep you funded, focused and motivated.
Expectations on students and postdoc associates
It is a requirement that all Ph.D. students and postdoc research scientists must be able to produce research results worthy of publishing in well-respected peer-reviewed journals within a reasonable amount of time in my research group (e.g. Computer Methods in Applied Mechanics and Engineering [PDF1][PDF2][PDF3][URL], Journal of Engineering Mechanics [PDF], International Journal for Numerical Methods in Engineering [PDF] and International Journal of Analytical and Numerical Methods in Geomechanics [PDF]). All postdoctoral scholars and graduate students remained as our team members beyond the first year have continued this trend with no exception.
It is expected that all team members in this research group, including myself, would set the highest standard on their work and thrive to conduct high-quality research that impacts our research field. Good habits which I found in many of my current and former students and postdocs, include showing up in group meeting prepared and on time, making sure that all results presented in the papers are easily reproduced if needed, keeping a written record of the research progress, paying attention to the details of a research idea, and being honest when analyzing the data and interpreting the experimental results.
We have a zero-tolerance policy on falsification, fabrication and plagiarism as well as other misconduct [URL].
Tips on time management
Time is the most valuable resource necessary to conduct research. An academician has limited time to train a finite number of PhD students, no matter how productive she/he is within a career. Meanwhile, a PhD student has to put other things on hold for a few years to pursue the PhD. My job to make your sacrifice worthwhile. My view is that both of us have the responsibility to find the combination of actions that maximize a specific set of goals (publishing N number of papers, publishing in top journals, M number of grants, finding a tenure-track positions, etc..) while fulfilling/balancing other needs, obligations and/or constraints (e.g. teaching, services, personal life, family time, exercises, ...etc ) within the limited resource (time, funding, attention, office space). Ideally, we all want to be excellent in every aspects of our lives. However, according to my own experience, a research career is rarely a smooth path.
In fact, one of my most important duties as your advisor is to help you managing your time and improving your ability to focus such that you can achieve the goals you intended to achieve (e.g. finding a faculty position, finishing a thesis, writing a good paper) while maintaining a good balance between work and your private life. While many activities can be beneficial, knowing how to set priorities and stay focus is one of the most important skills you will learn in graduate school. Provided that the time investment is justifiable, you may found yourself formulates research direction, brainstorm ideas, check derivations, proofread manuscripts, discuss problems, provide feedback, rehearsal presentations, prepare job interviews, and handle the paperwork daily often within a very limited amount of time. I am certain that I will involve in those activities with you and share some of the workloads, but there will be moments at which you feel overwhelmed.
First of all, to make life less stressful, it is important to set boundary and not giving priority to all activities that sound important. Use your judgment and common sense to invest time in things that truly matter to you and your research. A distinctive characteristic of our profession is that the work requires a lot of creativity and mental concentration. It is important to have enough mental space and avoid saturating your daily life with numerous distractions. Bad examples of time management include attending a lot of zoom meetings without sound reasons and spending too much time on activities that dilutes the focus. Don't surround yourself with distractions. Cherish the moment when you are mentally sharp. Use your less optimal time to deal with routine works that do not require a high level of concentration (e.g. filling out reimbursement forms, handling paperwork..etc).
My second suggestion is to just pick at most three items that you try to achieve every day and forget the rest of them until the prioritized items are completed. There are tools, such as Google Tasks that are synchronized with a calendar. Be realistic about your ability and learn how to say no could be critical to your success. Turning off all the notifications in your browser and cell phone also helps.
It is a good idea to think about the time in different scales. Your time in graduate school is very short but it is also the defining moment of your career. Your action today may affect your career trajectory for the next few decades. Reinforce the good habits and try to learn from the mistakes and things will eventually work out one way or the other.
It is also important to take time to maintain a balanced life. Build a supportive network of family, friends and colleagues that can enrich your life. Going to lunch and dinner with your fellow students and engaging in a health dose of social activities are not just helpful for networking, but are beneficial for the mental health, especially for foreign students.
Dealing with failures and setbacks
Your long-term success is often dictated more by your character (motivation, attitude, patience, integrity, and discipline) than your talent, especially if you have already been demonstrated enough talent to get a spot in a top PhD program. What distinguish a great scholar from a mediocre one is often manifested by how they deal with failures and setbacks. Over the course of the study in my research group, I expect that we may fail to accomplish the goals we set together from time to time. I also fully expect to be disappointed from time to time. A PhD study takes a number of years and the trajectory of it is not necessarily smooth.
Sometimes the fear to make mistakes may kill creativity and cost important missed opportunities. On the other hand, miscalculated ambitions with inflated/inaccurate understanding of our own knowledges and skills is also very dangerous. Hence, taking a reasonable risk for trying something new or taking out from the comfortable zoom is necessary for a successful research. While setbacks are common (e.g. programming bugs, research ideas that turned out not working after months of efforts, research ideas that thought to be not working and turns out yielding breakthrough by other groups), learning how to find the right strategies to handle the challenges is one of the important tool you learned from the graduate school.
If there is any unexpected bad news or setbacks, please notify me immediately. I will try to identify the issues as soon as possible and work out a feasible solution with you. A balanced and objective evaluation on the progress of a research idea is, therefore, curial to find the optimal way to invest our time on the research. Be patient and keep an open mind when things do not go your own way. Based on my own personal experience, many of our better research ideas are often originated from difficulties we mastered.
In reality, researchers are often rewarded by creating the perceptions of doing great work, being productive ..etc rather than directly rewarded for one's contributions and impacts, which are more difficult to assess immediately. While you have controls on some aspects of such perceptions (being a better presenter, networking, improving your writing skills), there are obviously factors beyond your controls. Learning how to objectively, precisely and accurately assess the value of your own work is important to keep your mind at peace and help you focusing on the pursuit of knowledge in your professional life. Value the feedback we received from anonymous reviewers, colleagues and listen to critiques. Often times, even unfair reviews may contain valuable information that helps us making better decision if we pay attentions. Do not tie up your self-esteem on someone else's evaluation (Sternberg, 2015).
Some reality check and advice on life as a graduate student and an early-career researcher from different viewpoints can be found in Gassman (1988), PCM (2008), Hardevella et al. (2015), Terence Tao, recently Baker (2020) and Torralba (2020).
Logistics of Ph.D. applications
Interested candidates please contact me and visit http://gradengineering.columbia.edu/onlineapplication for general information. Answers to general admission questions can be found at http://gradengineering.columbia.edu/frequently-asked-questions-2. In your application, please indicate your interest to work with my research group. I also highly recommend students applying for the NSF Graduate Fellowship, the DOE Office of Science Graduate Fellowship, the Marie Curie International Outgoing Fellowship, and the NDSEG Fellowship. Please notice that my Columbia email account will filter out the generic application emails sent to numerous recipients/universities and classified them as spams. Please be specific about (1) why you think our research group is a good fit for you and (2) why you want to attend graduate school.
Due to the large number of applications and inquiries I received, I might not be able to read and respond to all the emails I received. If you decided that you would like to explore the possibility of joining my research team, please list me as the potential advisor in the application package. For postdoctoral students, please consider applying for the NSF Earth science postdoctoral fellowship. For information about housing options for graduate students, please visit http://engineering.columbia.edu/housing-2. Admitted SEAS master students with sufficient background in computational mechanics and/or geomechanics are invited to schedule appointments to discuss possible Ph.D./MS projects with me (wsun@columbia.edu). For Columbia MS students interested to work with me for PhD, taking the Computational Poromechanics course (ENME6320) or Finite Element in Geotechnical Engineering (CIENE4263) offered during the Autumn semester is necessary.
Visiting scholars
If you are interested in visiting my research group temporarily (with external support), please contact me at least a few months ahead of your proposed arrival date. Visiting scholars must provide evidence that they possess sufficient communication skills and have sufficient support to apply for a US visa. Only researchers with compatible research interests and sufficient research background will be considered. We do not support visiting researchers coming to New York for leisure travel. Interested candidate please contact me by email and fill out the application form available at https://portal.seas.columbia.edu/form/view.php?id=114.
Last update: 6/1/2021
General Recruitment Plan
Generally speaking, I try to recruit one to two graduate students or postdoc per year, depending on the availability and time constraint of funding and my ability to maintain the quality of the research with the existing students and postdoc research associates. My goal in the hiring process is to filter the candidates that are less likely to be successful under my tutelage while trying not to miss any talent that may have potential to do great research.
PhD applicants
The PhD application process begins in the Fall semester each year. The review of the Ph.D. applications typically begins in the spring and ends before the summer. Ideally, the successful Ph.D. candidates should have (1) a master degree in civil engineering, applied mechanics, geomechanics, applied mathematics, or other related disciplines, (2) some background in computational mechanics and reasonable mathematical skills (e.g. linear algebra, partial differential equations), (3) be proficient in Python, C++, Java and/or FORTRAN code developments, and (4) possess excellent communication skills. At the beginning of the Ph.D. study, I expect that the incoming students are at least competent in basic linear algebra and calculus, and have some general ideas about mechanics.
In the past, the maximum team members I recruited in one single year is 3, the lowest is 1. My philosophy is that a student may graduate whenever she/he has a great chance of landing a great position. Ph.D. students in my group on average takes four years to finish their Ph.D. studies if they have a master's degree in a related field. All of my current and former PhD students in my research group have been fully funded during the entire period they work with me.
Typically, students are supported by a combination of fellowships (Fulbright, NDSEG, Presidential fellowship), research assistantship from research grant and teaching assistant support. If the resource is available and that is understandably not always the case, my goal is to have each student serves at least once as TA to get some teaching experience (especially if they are interested at academic position) within the first 2 years of PhD study and then support the last two years of all of my PhD students' work with RA or fellowship.
Postdoc Research scientist/Associate Research Scientist/Research Scientist
Postdoc candidates are recruited based on (1) research accomplishment, (2) future potential, (3) joint interest in the funded research topics, and (4) compatibility, and (5) the research group they graduate from and if applicable (6) the performance of my previous postdoc graduated from the same group of the candidates. Depending on the availability of the funding and the performance of the team members, we typically have one associate research scientist or research scientist in my research group. This position is supported by external funding from research projects and carried the officer rank at Columbia but is generally not open to fresh PhD graduate.
I encourage the applicants who are seriously considering working with me to talk to my current team members as well as the former ones to get a fuller and more balanced picture of the level of commitment required to be successful in my group. I also highly encourage students from the underrepresented groups to join us.
Advising and research styles
While working with Ph.D. students and postdoc fellows, my goal is to find a research theme that (i) makes the student and I both excited about the work, (ii) matches well with the student's key competencies, personality, and work habits, (iii) contains elements that are of fundamental importance, (iv) has sufficient chances to find sustainable funding during and, ideally, beyond the Ph.D. study.
As your research advisor, it is my duty to (1) provide an intellectually stimulating and safe environment for group members to conduct meaningful research, (2) to motivate you to set a high standard for your own research, (3) to provide the nuclei of research ideas, (4) to help you pursue research ideas as efficiently as possible, and (5) to evaluate your intellectual growth critically.
In essence, my goal is to help you do the best research possible and keep you funded, focused and motivated.
Expectations on students and postdoc associates
It is a requirement that all Ph.D. students and postdoc research scientists must be able to produce research results worthy of publishing in well-respected peer-reviewed journals within a reasonable amount of time in my research group (e.g. Computer Methods in Applied Mechanics and Engineering [PDF1][PDF2][PDF3][URL], Journal of Engineering Mechanics [PDF], International Journal for Numerical Methods in Engineering [PDF] and International Journal of Analytical and Numerical Methods in Geomechanics [PDF]). All postdoctoral scholars and graduate students remained as our team members beyond the first year have continued this trend with no exception.
It is expected that all team members in this research group, including myself, would set the highest standard on their work and thrive to conduct high-quality research that impacts our research field. Good habits which I found in many of my current and former students and postdocs, include showing up in group meeting prepared and on time, making sure that all results presented in the papers are easily reproduced if needed, keeping a written record of the research progress, paying attention to the details of a research idea, and being honest when analyzing the data and interpreting the experimental results.
We have a zero-tolerance policy on falsification, fabrication and plagiarism as well as other misconduct [URL].
Tips on time management
Time is the most valuable resource necessary to conduct research. An academician has limited time to train a finite number of PhD students, no matter how productive she/he is within a career. Meanwhile, a PhD student has to put other things on hold for a few years to pursue the PhD. My job to make your sacrifice worthwhile. My view is that both of us have the responsibility to find the combination of actions that maximize a specific set of goals (publishing N number of papers, publishing in top journals, M number of grants, finding a tenure-track positions, etc..) while fulfilling/balancing other needs, obligations and/or constraints (e.g. teaching, services, personal life, family time, exercises, ...etc ) within the limited resource (time, funding, attention, office space). Ideally, we all want to be excellent in every aspects of our lives. However, according to my own experience, a research career is rarely a smooth path.
In fact, one of my most important duties as your advisor is to help you managing your time and improving your ability to focus such that you can achieve the goals you intended to achieve (e.g. finding a faculty position, finishing a thesis, writing a good paper) while maintaining a good balance between work and your private life. While many activities can be beneficial, knowing how to set priorities and stay focus is one of the most important skills you will learn in graduate school. Provided that the time investment is justifiable, you may found yourself formulates research direction, brainstorm ideas, check derivations, proofread manuscripts, discuss problems, provide feedback, rehearsal presentations, prepare job interviews, and handle the paperwork daily often within a very limited amount of time. I am certain that I will involve in those activities with you and share some of the workloads, but there will be moments at which you feel overwhelmed.
First of all, to make life less stressful, it is important to set boundary and not giving priority to all activities that sound important. Use your judgment and common sense to invest time in things that truly matter to you and your research. A distinctive characteristic of our profession is that the work requires a lot of creativity and mental concentration. It is important to have enough mental space and avoid saturating your daily life with numerous distractions. Bad examples of time management include attending a lot of zoom meetings without sound reasons and spending too much time on activities that dilutes the focus. Don't surround yourself with distractions. Cherish the moment when you are mentally sharp. Use your less optimal time to deal with routine works that do not require a high level of concentration (e.g. filling out reimbursement forms, handling paperwork..etc).
My second suggestion is to just pick at most three items that you try to achieve every day and forget the rest of them until the prioritized items are completed. There are tools, such as Google Tasks that are synchronized with a calendar. Be realistic about your ability and learn how to say no could be critical to your success. Turning off all the notifications in your browser and cell phone also helps.
It is a good idea to think about the time in different scales. Your time in graduate school is very short but it is also the defining moment of your career. Your action today may affect your career trajectory for the next few decades. Reinforce the good habits and try to learn from the mistakes and things will eventually work out one way or the other.
It is also important to take time to maintain a balanced life. Build a supportive network of family, friends and colleagues that can enrich your life. Going to lunch and dinner with your fellow students and engaging in a health dose of social activities are not just helpful for networking, but are beneficial for the mental health, especially for foreign students.
Dealing with failures and setbacks
Your long-term success is often dictated more by your character (motivation, attitude, patience, integrity, and discipline) than your talent, especially if you have already been demonstrated enough talent to get a spot in a top PhD program. What distinguish a great scholar from a mediocre one is often manifested by how they deal with failures and setbacks. Over the course of the study in my research group, I expect that we may fail to accomplish the goals we set together from time to time. I also fully expect to be disappointed from time to time. A PhD study takes a number of years and the trajectory of it is not necessarily smooth.
Sometimes the fear to make mistakes may kill creativity and cost important missed opportunities. On the other hand, miscalculated ambitions with inflated/inaccurate understanding of our own knowledges and skills is also very dangerous. Hence, taking a reasonable risk for trying something new or taking out from the comfortable zoom is necessary for a successful research. While setbacks are common (e.g. programming bugs, research ideas that turned out not working after months of efforts, research ideas that thought to be not working and turns out yielding breakthrough by other groups), learning how to find the right strategies to handle the challenges is one of the important tool you learned from the graduate school.
If there is any unexpected bad news or setbacks, please notify me immediately. I will try to identify the issues as soon as possible and work out a feasible solution with you. A balanced and objective evaluation on the progress of a research idea is, therefore, curial to find the optimal way to invest our time on the research. Be patient and keep an open mind when things do not go your own way. Based on my own personal experience, many of our better research ideas are often originated from difficulties we mastered.
In reality, researchers are often rewarded by creating the perceptions of doing great work, being productive ..etc rather than directly rewarded for one's contributions and impacts, which are more difficult to assess immediately. While you have controls on some aspects of such perceptions (being a better presenter, networking, improving your writing skills), there are obviously factors beyond your controls. Learning how to objectively, precisely and accurately assess the value of your own work is important to keep your mind at peace and help you focusing on the pursuit of knowledge in your professional life. Value the feedback we received from anonymous reviewers, colleagues and listen to critiques. Often times, even unfair reviews may contain valuable information that helps us making better decision if we pay attentions. Do not tie up your self-esteem on someone else's evaluation (Sternberg, 2015).
Some reality check and advice on life as a graduate student and an early-career researcher from different viewpoints can be found in Gassman (1988), PCM (2008), Hardevella et al. (2015), Terence Tao, recently Baker (2020) and Torralba (2020).
Logistics of Ph.D. applications
Interested candidates please contact me and visit http://gradengineering.columbia.edu/onlineapplication for general information. Answers to general admission questions can be found at http://gradengineering.columbia.edu/frequently-asked-questions-2. In your application, please indicate your interest to work with my research group. I also highly recommend students applying for the NSF Graduate Fellowship, the DOE Office of Science Graduate Fellowship, the Marie Curie International Outgoing Fellowship, and the NDSEG Fellowship. Please notice that my Columbia email account will filter out the generic application emails sent to numerous recipients/universities and classified them as spams. Please be specific about (1) why you think our research group is a good fit for you and (2) why you want to attend graduate school.
Due to the large number of applications and inquiries I received, I might not be able to read and respond to all the emails I received. If you decided that you would like to explore the possibility of joining my research team, please list me as the potential advisor in the application package. For postdoctoral students, please consider applying for the NSF Earth science postdoctoral fellowship. For information about housing options for graduate students, please visit http://engineering.columbia.edu/housing-2. Admitted SEAS master students with sufficient background in computational mechanics and/or geomechanics are invited to schedule appointments to discuss possible Ph.D./MS projects with me (wsun@columbia.edu). For Columbia MS students interested to work with me for PhD, taking the Computational Poromechanics course (ENME6320) or Finite Element in Geotechnical Engineering (CIENE4263) offered during the Autumn semester is necessary.
Visiting scholars
If you are interested in visiting my research group temporarily (with external support), please contact me at least a few months ahead of your proposed arrival date. Visiting scholars must provide evidence that they possess sufficient communication skills and have sufficient support to apply for a US visa. Only researchers with compatible research interests and sufficient research background will be considered. We do not support visiting researchers coming to New York for leisure travel. Interested candidate please contact me by email and fill out the application form available at https://portal.seas.columbia.edu/form/view.php?id=114.
Last update: 6/1/2021