Undergraduate research experiences open door to research career for physics student

Mr Simba Xiang ZOU, a second-year BSc student majoring in Physics (Intensive) and being enrolled in Young Scientist Scheme(YSS), has been fascinated by the discipline since his childhood. From fundamental building blocks of the universe to the magnificent gigantic stars and immense galaxies, Simba was attracted by this age-old subject that dates back to the times of ancient Greece. This explains his strong interest and motivation to study physics at university. 

After being accepted by the Faculty’s Summer Research Fellowship (SRF) Scheme, which supports science undergraduates to conduct research under the supervision of an academic, Simba was assigned to work at the Laboratory for Space Research (LSR) in Cyberport last summer. Here he spent over two months working on a topic related to planetary nebulae, the glowing ghostly relics of dying stars. During the period, he was given access to a globally significant and unique database called “HASH” (Hong Kong/ AAO/ Strasbourg H-alpha Planetary nebula research platform that contains sets of multi-wavelength imaging data and optical spectroscopy of all known Galactic PN, and his job was to perform manual checking on the reliability of some specific subset of those data for PN with identified central stars.

It took Simba a while to get into the research mode, comprehend jargons, acquaint and master the necessary research skills, but soon he managed to find a way to catch up. 

Learn from the experts

Most helpful of all is that he found himself, unsurprisingly learning a lot from the astronomy experts. While working on the data analysis of planetary nebulae, Simba was supervised by the Director of LSR and expert in the field Professor Quentin PARKER, which greatly improved his efficiency in working out the project, and many other experienced researchers were there to offer their helping hands. "It was like entering a marvellous academic community!" Simba said.

During his summer fellowship, he assisted Professor Parker in correcting the central star coordinates of a list of planetary nebulae published in other journal papers, of which he conducted a large portion of data analysis. He also analysed two newly established planetary nebulae catalogues, where some interesting conclusions about the aforementioned errors spotted are drawn. His research findings will form the basis of a future refereed journal paper where he will be a co-author.

Facing up real obstacles

Simba believes that the SRF scheme does not only provide a valuable opportunity for enthusiastic students to have an early taste in conducting research, but it also equips them with the ability to self-study, that he believes plays a key role in pursuing a research career. 

"For a year-two student, it is hard for me to start a research topic of my own due to limited disciplinary knowledge. However, the SRF scheme inspires me to learn more about astronomy, astrophysics and quantum physics, which I believe I will be able to find my research path very soon. It is also great to explore my research interest and possible topics, which may in turn affect my choices of courses later on during my undergraduate study. I would say it strengthened my interest and determination in pursuing academic research as my life career."

During the Summer Research Fellowship, Simba was surrounded by experts who gave him the best learning experience. 

Simba has got a chance to be the second author of a journal paper.

The fantastic scenery outside LSR. 

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