Life In An IIT | From getting research grant to pursuing PhD in IIT Guwahati, foreign student shares experience | Education News | Guwahati City News

I started my career in 2007 in a financial advisory-based company in Indonesia after completing my undergraduate degree. I have been working in the field of economic empowerment of peasants in rural and coastal communities since 2010. 

How did I get to IIT Guwahati

I am funded by the Doctoral Fellowship for ASEAN scheme provided by the Ministry of Education, India. This fellowship is exclusively for researchers from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and only for IITs across India. 

I submitted my application through the scholarship portal and uploaded all the supporting documents including my qualifications and employment. Approximately two weeks later, I received an email regarding the interview appointment. One week after the interview, I received the offer letter. 

I applied for a study visa at the Indian embassy in Jakarta, Indonesia, using my admission letter. After a preparatory process of about a month, I arrived in India in August, 2022.

At IIT Guwahati, I am pursuing research related to sustainable economic empowerment of farmers and rural communities, including modelling the impact of climate change on farmers’ resilience, gender studies in smallholder farming, adoption patterns of agricultural input technologies. With this work, I expect to make a sustained and distinctive contribution to these domains.

Why did I choose India and IIT Guwahati?

The thought of pursuing my PhD in India had been in the fore of my mind since 2010, when I completed my master’s degree. I had already been in contact with several Indian universities in the area of agriculture. Due to the multiple work requirements and other ongoing contracts, I was not able to continue my studies at that time and decided to postpone the plan.

India has long appealed to me, in particular, because of its long civilisational history and its historical ties with Indonesia, as well as its world-recognised accomplishments in science and technology. 

Beyond that, India and Indonesia also have several similar attributes in terms of their respective agricultural economies, and rural development, as well as dealing with similar kinds of economic and social problems related to economic nurturing. These are the background reasons for my decision to study and conduct research in India.

Life in IIT Guwahati

I thoroughly enriched my experience here, acquainting myself with the cultures, the communities, the cuisines, as well as the very conducive and supportive academic environment. I sincerely wish that I could enjoy more wonderful and enjoyable experiences in the days to come during my time here.

Being at IIT allows me to interact with many experts and students from the more technical areas of exact sciences. My works on sustainability modelling, climate simulations, and technology adoption modelling require the involvement of exact sciences such as mathematics, statistics, and spatial analysis. With a more holistic environment like the one at IIT, my objectives are made easier due to the abundance of experts and adequate facilities. 

The concept of sustainable solutions, which is the focal point of my study, must emerge from the interaction between the fields of social sciences and the exact ones, or what I can say as interdisciplinary studies. It is undeniable that the global reputation and competitive learning environment is also behind choosing to undertake research at IIT.

Hurdles and challenges

The most difficult thing, of course, for an overseas student is adapting to a new environment. Being from a tropical and temperate climate, where the average temperature is 15-26 degrees throughout the year, acclimating to the Indian summer was not an ease. 

During my initial days, I suffered from various struggles like dehydration, excessive sweating, and exhaustion in my early days here. But as time passed, I gradually got accustomed to it and enjoyed it. 

Another hurdle was the language. On campus, everyone speaks English but when I interact with the local communities, it often became an obstacle.

My future aim

The near-term plan is to continue phased research in the HSS Department in line with the projections that have been set with my supervisor. My future plan is to return to Indonesia, as in this fellowship scheme there is no bond to work or to serve the Indian authorities. I would like to contribute more to the local community using the outcomes of my studies at IIT.