One woman’s remarkable journey towards obtaining a PhD in China. An interview with Kate Smith (Australia), doctoral candidate at Tsinghua University.

Note: this is part 1 of a series of short interviews with PhD students in China from around the world. Part 2 can be found here.

Kate’s journey is pretty inspiring for young women in science and engineering.

Born in Cairns, a mid-sized city on the northeast coast of Australia, Kate started her academic career at the University of Melbourne, where she double-majored in applied math/physics and environmental studies. During her bachelor’s degree, she also obtained a diploma in Spanish, and spent a year on exchange at one of Chile’s top universities. In 2011, she decided to move to China.

Since her arrival, Kate has lived with a Chinese host family, pursued graduate study at Tsinghua University, directed rural development projects, learned Arabic, interned in both China and Australia, written a book about her experience in China (entirely in Chinese! Find it here), and published more than a dozen scientific papers about the water-energy nexus, the topic of her PhD research (find those here).

Kate’s story is especially striking if you consider the following statistics: in 2017, there were about 130,000 Chinese students pursuing tertiary education in Australia. By comparison, merely 4,411 Australians were studying in China in 2015.

I recently had a chat with Kate about her experience as a PhD student in Beijing. Here’s what she had to say.

What’s your background?

I come from Cairns, next to the Great Barrier Reef in the north of Australia. I grew up there, but I went to Melbourne for my undergraduate degree, where I double-majored in math/physics and environmental studies. I started studying Chinese in my penultimate year of university.

When and why did you move to China?

In March 2011, I arrived in Nanning (the capital of Guanxi province, a region in southern China), where I spent more than a year teaching English to both kindergarteners and university students. One of my main goals in coming to China was to improve my Chinese, but teaching English provided a great way to support myself. Hence the decision to teach full-time, and study part-time. I was learning Chinese pretty fast anyway, since I was living with a host family and being tutored in Chinese by a private teacher. After a year and a half in Nanning, I spent nine months in Taiwan learning Chinese full-time.

What’s it like to be a Masters/PhD student in China?

I arrived in Beijing in 2013 to start a master’s degree in environmental science and engineering at Tsinghua University. My master’s degree was heavily research-oriented, and it was possible to start research as early as the first semester – the focus on publishing is very strong in China. It’s hard to say whether I would have been able to publish so early if I had stayed in Australia. In contrast to some other countries, our research is supervised by only one professor.

There are also differences in a grad student’s required teaching load. PhD candidates in Australia tend to teach numerous university tutorials in their subject matter, but this seems less common among international students at Tsinghua University.

What does your research focus on?

My research focuses on the connection between water and energy. For example, I recently completed a paper that examined the effects of China’s new wastewater standards on the energy used by wastewater treatment plants around the country.

If these new standards lead to increased energy use, then the initial positive environmental change engendered by these more stringent standards (e.g. reduced discharge of wastewater contaminants) has an unintended negative consequence (e.g. increased energy use), which should be considered by policy makers. Our research group looks at scenarios that might increase the overall benefit for the same energy cost.

Have your research interests allowed you to engage with local Chinese society?

Apart from my main research on water and energy, I have also conducted research on the removal of arsenic, a notorious carcinogen, from groundwater in rural areas of China. This was done through a student-led organization called RISE. Leading this organization exposed me to the numerous drinking water issues faced by rural Chinese in a very memorable way.

For example, I gained some experience in water research at a practical level, such as how to build effective, low-cost water filters for rural households. I also got a clearer idea of what kind of water sources rural households have access to, how they store this water, how many people have access to water treatment, what kind of treatment, and so on. Lastly, I learned about the conditions faced in some of China’s poorest regions, including Ningxia and Gansu. I had hitherto only lived in big Chinese cities, but RISE exposed me to rural life, rural water pollution problems, and the structure/politics of Chinese villages.

How is studying in China perceived in Australia?

Many Australians can probably understand why you would study in China for some time, since the country is becoming such a dominant force. But the universities in China may not be very well known to the average Australian. The names Oxford, Harvard and Tsinghua all have a ‘wow’ factor when said in China. But only Oxford and Harvard are likely to have such a strong reputation in Australia. Many people may never have heard of Tsinghua, but this is changing slowly as Chinese universities move up in global rankings.

 What is a common frustration that you experience in China?

When decision-makers inform people about something important at the last minute, even though earlier notice would probably have been possible. One high-level example would be a friend arriving from overseas for a conference that was suddenly cancelled when government officials were called away to attend another event. A low-level example would be a school telling the teachers late one afternoon that their offices won’t be accessible for the following two days because of a planned event. Perhaps there is a certain logic to this, but I’ve just never figured it out. 

What advice do you have for students and young professionals who want to build a career as scientists and engineers?

One suggestion would be to look at the LinkedIn profiles of people in positions/companies that you are interested in. Try to see the path they took to get to their highest position. You can even ask them why they took that direction and if they would have done it differently. This way you might get there faster.

In terms of academia, if a bachelor’s student came to me and said they might be interested in a research career, I would suggest they find a very motivated supervisor to do research with before they even get grad school; it’s best to start as early as the second or third year of university. I didn’t do this, but I have seen students move forward much faster than the average because of this.

How can international students in China help their countries navigate complex business and political exchanges with China?

International students in China represent their country – they may be the only representative from that country a Chinese person has ever met. If they act up (e.g. selling drugs, sexual harassment, fraud), then it may not just be their own reputation on the line but also their country’s reputation. I don’t think it matters what their aspirations are in China, the first step is simply to not seriously misbehave and leave people with a lasting negative impression. Put otherwise, should people be tasked with navigating bilateral exchanges when they can’t navigate their own life?

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I'm a final-year PhD student at Tsinghua University in Beijing. I'm interested in writing about China from the individual perspective of scientists, engineers, and tech-oriented entrepreneurs based in China and abroad.

Stay tuned for upcoming stories, including:

• Interviews with Chinese and international scientists, engineers, and tech entrepreneurs making a impact on Chinese Society.
• Perspectives from insiders at some of China’s leading tech companies and universities, such as Alibaba and Peking University.
• Insights from technologists in regions such as India, Africa, and Southeast Asia who are at the intersection of technology in both their home country and China.