No, I'm not in the US yet. I've just decided to procrastinate just a bit more rather than finish off my packing. After voting today, I went into uni to talk to a prospective supervisor for my research project next year. Dr. Kinwah Wu (following Western convention... his surname is Wu) isn't usually in the Department, because he is based in MSSL (Mullard Space Science Lab) which is outside London. I have emailed him a few times previously (along with a few other prospective supervisors, all from MSSL), so when he said he'd be coming into London, I decided to take the chance to talk to him.

He was at the MSSL's 'branch office' in Taviton St., where I usually have my tutorials there under Dr. Mason, my personal tutor. Dr. Mason let me in, and brought me to the room where Dr. Wu was. I had half-expected Dr. Wu to be a venerable grey-haired Chinese guy...instead, he can't be more than 30 years old. He's short and bespectacled, but the first thing that struck me was his manner of talking...fast, short bursts, words almost rolling into each other in a rather soft monotone. The accent wasn't something I could really place either.

He asked me if I was Korean (my name does sound Korean, admittedly), so I told him I was Malaysian, and in turn I asked him if he was from Hong Kong. He was born in HK, but brought up in Australia. He started off asking what my plans for the future were (I made references to this in my emails to him, by enquiring whether the projects would lead to published papers). I told him frankly, and he said, 'Well, my student Chris, two years your senior, is now is Caltech...', and he mentioned a few more ex-students who are now in places like Princeton, Harvard etc (implicit implication: he writes a good reference letter. He also told me that I'll need to be the 'best of the best' to get into the elite universities.

The trivialities out of the way, he went on to explain the project I was enquiring about. Basically, black-holes emit x-ray radiation, and they are trying to create an accurate theoretical model to explain certain characteristics of the radiation (that's the only way I can explain it without causing mass perplexity). There are several steps to creating a theoretical model: get to grips with the various processes that might be responsible and combine them, put that into a computational model to give predictions as to what the radiation spectra would look like, and then comparing the predictions with the actual observed data. The first couple of steps are being taken cared of by PhD and MSc students, so being merely a humble final-year undergrad, I would, if I choose, be doing the interface between the predictions and observed data.

Dr. Wu also showed me a presentation on the topic which he gave recently, and attempted it to explain to me as best as he can. As he explained, he became visibly animated and enthusiastic...as for me, I was struggling to keep up with what he was saying (and not quite successfully). He made various references to the fact that the stuff was beyond my present understanding (which was perfectly true, of course), and that more advanced projects would await me under his supervision in the fourth year (this project is actually under the supervision of another researcher, he's just the secondary supervisor). When I mentioned that I'll only be doing 3 years, and might instead be doing a MSc in maths, he almost recoiled in horror. 'No, no, no! To get into the top universities you need research projects in your CV. Any bookworm can get a top first-class honours, so they will be looking for something more than just academic results. If you do a maths Master's you won't do any research!'.

He went on a rant on how important research is for a prospective PhD student. In response to my statement that I am crap at maths, he said that he is an arts student in high school, yet his maths skills are the best at MSSL (impressive, but I'm not sure what his point is). He said that in the first couple of years in a US PhD, I will be getting hard maths drilled into my skull anyway, so there's no point wasting a year doing maths. At some point he also mentioned that he used to work for NASA, but didn't go into much detail.

I managed to get a word in edgeways, and mentioned that I will be spending my summer doing research in the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore. He paused for a while and said, 'Oh....were you the one who asked Mark Cropper to write you a reference letter?'. Mark Cropper was one of my first year lecturers, and yes, I did ask him to write me a reference. 'Ah....Mark is one of my best friends in MSSL, and he has mentioned you....', at this point he seemed to struggle for words a little bit, and finally said, 'He regards you as his prize student'.

In any case, all good things come to an end, and I decided to take the project. However, the situation is now interesting: Dr. Wu has, shall we say, persuaded me as to the virtues of staying on for a fourth year. On the other hand, if I stay for a fourth year, I'll only get to do a research project in the 4th year and not in the 3rd year. The only way out: do the 3 years BSc, and do a separate MSc, still in UCL. I will be eligible to apply for full scholarships to cover my MSc, rather than having to rely on the paltry partial scholarship I have now. That's assuming I get the scholarship, of course...

On a more light-hearted note, at my final dinner at Netherhall House this evening (well, the final one for a few months at any rate), we were handed a sad-looking helping of rice and two suspicious-looking pieces of meat, with green salad and COLD chicken soup as sides. As I sat down at the table, I looked at the guy beside me, Fred from Mauritius, and we both couldn't help laughing. Later, I loudly commented that it must be 'Oliver Twist Appreciation Day', because they're making us ask for a second helping of slop, a comment which rather ominously coincided with some rather witch-like laughter from the serving ladies behind the counter. After finishing the food (which didn't take long, despite the dubious quality of the food), I made a quick survey as to the origins of the meat we just ate. Paul K from Uganda said 'Chicken', Alfredo from Mexico said 'Beef', and the most respected Fr. Joe, our resident chaplain said 'It's either pork or lamb'. FOUR different opinions from three people...impressive isn't it? However, as my fellow Malaysian Hon Weng put it, 'Outside, you'd probably have to pay 65 pounds to eat something like this...'

To sign off, let me congratulate my friend Si Xian, who just notified me that managed to win a JPA scholarship to study engineering in France! You go, buddy!