The EPL Doctoral Student Support-alumni sharing session was successfully held on Friday, 29 May 2026, via Zoom. Organized by doctoral students Yixing and Min Thein Win, this student-led initiative aimed to provide a friendly, relaxed space for peers across different research areas to connect, exchange ideas, and build lasting academic networks within the EPL community.
The session featured insightful presentations from two EPL Post-doctoral Fellows, Dr. Ye Christine Wang and Dr. Jianjing Janice Tang, who shared valuable advice on academic networking, career development, and postdoctoral fellowship opportunities.
Dr. Ye Wang Christine delivered a presentation titled “Networking for Academic Development.” Drawing from her personal journey, Dr. Wang reframed networking not as a transactional task of collecting business cards or asking for favors, but as a gradual, meaningful process of building genuine academic relationships.
Dr. Jianjing Tang Janice provided practical guidance on crafting strong fellowship proposals. She emphasized critical strategies such as identifying clear research gaps, outlining three to five specific objectives, presenting a feasible methodology and timeline, and articulating the expected academic impact. Her insights were particularly timely for final-year PhD students managing the dual timelines of dissertation submission and fellowship applications.
The event successfully fostered a supportive and collegial environment, offering doctoral students both practical career guidance and an open, relaxed forum to learn from experienced early-career scholars.
