“I graduated from Sun Yat-Sen University in China with a BSc in International Business. After that I worked for an international company for two years. In 2016, I came to Surrey to study the MA Interpreting and then chose to study my PhD here too.

It’s very exciting to work in this dynamic institution. I really enjoy the multilingual and multinational composition of our faculty, and the postgraduate researchers and staff are all very friendly and helpful. I’ve been working with my supervisor since my MA. She has provided me with regular supervisor meetings, up-to-date suggestions on research and training resources to help me navigate through my study. The Doctoral College and Researcher Development Programme also provide training and development opportunities including workshops, tailored events, one-to-one coaching and other personal and professional development opportunities.

Coming to Surrey is one of the best choices I have ever made.”

“I chose to study for my PhD at Surrey because of the excellent research opportunities available here. The University also offers many extra options (e.g. teaching/Stage 2 in Health Psychology) that many others do not.

So far, I’m really enjoying my experience of doing a PhD at Surrey. I’ve made some great friends and we enjoy the odd social activity around Guildford (including Bright Club and Pint of Science). Surrey’s campus offers everything that you need while you are studying – office space, technical support, student services, library resources and coffee!

I’ve been lucky enough to take part in lots of exciting projects over the past 18 months including writing a book chapter for the Higher Education Department and doing some qualitative analysis for a charity. I think that everything I do while completing my PhD at Surrey will make me more employable, especially finishing my Stage 2 qualification and Graduate Certificate in Learning and Teaching.”

“My PhD revolves around deep learning and how we can use it to diagnose and evaluate the treatment of epileptic patients. While deep learning is most often associated with achieving high accuracy predictions, it can also offer meaningful insights from data. My aim has been to further understand these biologically-inspired models – also known as neural networks – and use them as a qualitative measure to assist clinicians both in their initial diagnosis, and for ongoing treatment, of epileptic patients.

One of the best things about studying at Surrey is the friendly environment within the Department of Computer Science. Staff treat research students as peers, and openly discuss research opportunities.

When I finish my postgraduate studies at Surrey I’d like to enter industry in a research and development role, applying all that I’ve learned. In the long-term, I’d like to see the methodologies I’ve developed introduced within the healthcare industry."