SL2College

A Graduate Experience from Canada…

Madushanka Soysa graduated with a BSc Eng (Hons) from Electronics and Telecommunications at the University of Moratuwa.  He is now a second year graduate student in Communications research at the Electrical and Computer Engineering Research Facility, University of Alberta (UofA), Canada.  His thesis involves the study of performance of wireless relay networks with delayed feedback.

SL2College played an important role in helping Madushanka find a college where he could conduct his graduate studies.  In this article, Madushanka reviews the process he went through when he applied to the graduate program at the University of Alberta, in Alberta, Canada.

Graduate studies application process

The graduate application process involved taking the Graduate Record Examination, the IELTS exam for English proficiency and the online application.   Apart from getting transcripts and letters of recommendation for the application, there was also a personal statement which went through plenty of brainstorming and edits!

I browsed the internet for interesting areas of research opportunities and supervisors.  I contacted my professor (one of the proposed supervisors at that time) during the application process and he confirmed his intention to fund me.  It was only after the confirmation that I submitted my application for graduate studies.  I think the decision of my acceptance was based mainly on my A/L and undergraduate results.

Putting the whole application package together took slightly more than half a year for me.  Deadlines for graduate studies at the Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) Research Facility for the fall term vary from early January to April.  That means one has to start working on the application process well more than a year before the intended start date.  The exact deadline does not matter much as long as the professor is willing to accept and fund you.  The earlier you start with the process, the better, and contacting professors well ahead is an important step.  In some universities, the admission and funding decision is taken by individual professors, while in others it is taken by a committee.  At UoA, each professor decides which students to fund, and hence contacting professors before applying officially was useful.  This is not the case for all the universities.  For example, at the ECE Department at University of California Berkeley, the students do not select a supervisor until the end of their first year, and individual professors claim to have minimal contribution in admission decisions.

U of A has some scholarship deadlines in January, although the admission deadline is in April. Hence, applying by January is recommended.

Graduate studies at UoA

Communication through multiple relays between a source and a destination is theoretically proven to enhance the performance of a network significantly, but there are many practical problems we have to analyze before the implementation of such technology.  Having imperfect channel information for relay selection is one of the problems.  My research work at UoA has so far included the study of performance effects of feedback delay and outdated channel state information in relay networks, under different relay selection schemes.  In addition to that, I also work on developing techniques involving numerical mathematics to simplify the evaluation of network performance metrics.

The first two terms in the program involves mostly course work.  From undergraduate studies in Sri Lanka, it provided a smooth transition to the research work.

It usually takes about two years to complete the Masters program.  When it comes to choosing a thesis there is no set deadline by which a thesis topic should be chosen.  But depending on the supervisor, they may suggest an area.  Research is quite enjoyable, as it is mostly trying new things as opposed to repetitive routine procedures in an operational work.  The best part about being in research is the sheer joy of getting your work published.  However, you do have to cope with a relatively low stipend!

My thesis gets funded from the stipend I get while working as a research assistant (RA) in the lab.  There are other scholarships available to international graduate students.  I also got to work as a tutorial assistant (TA) in my second term, although this is not usual for Masters students.  It was an interesting learning experience.

In the Communications research sector, areas such as cognitive radio, MIMO OFDM Relay and Optimization get plenty of funding and experience in these areas can potentially be very useful in finding jobs after graduation.  I do plan to join the Research and Development sector in my field upon graduation.

Life in Edmonton, Alberta

Edmonton in the province of Alberta is a relatively small city according to North American standards.  Winter hits the city quite hard for six months.  It can be freezing with a wind chill of -40˚C by New Year’s Eve!  But the summers, with a sunset of close to 11pm, are very warm and thoroughly enjoyed.  There is a very helpful Sri Lankan community in Edmonton, particularly among the student population.

University of Alberta is located in the city centre.  There is a good public transport system and the campus does provide discounted passes for students and faculty.  Cost of living can be estimated at approximately Cdn $9000 per year, which depends mostly on the rent expenses.  There are on and off campus accommodations available for graduate students, and on campus accommodations are a bit more expensive than off campus ones of comparable quality.