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Alumni Profile
Sirichai CHONGCHITNAN BSc(Hons) 2002, MSc 2003
Darby Fellowship in Applied Mathematics, Lincoln College, and
Postdoctoral Researcher, Oxford Astrophysics, University of Oxford
September 2009 THE LONG JOURNEY
"We'll arrive in Cambridge in approximately three hours," announced the bus driver.
When I took my seat in the coach from London Heathrow airport heading for Cambridge, I knew it was going to be a long journey.
It was late September 2003, my first time in England. I looked around the coach and was reassured by a few apprehensive faces filled with the same trepidation and curiosity as I was. After all, we were all heading towards our new lives in Cambridge.
As we drove through a battery of roundabouts, past green and pleasant English landscape, peppered with grazing sheep and horses, I thought, "How on earth did I get here?" Well, it all started about five years earlier…
I had always dreamt of studying mathematics at university, and I was lucky enough to have done exactly that in NUS. There, I was given exposure to such a wide range of mathematical subjects that I felt, as terribly nerdy as this may sound, like a kid in a candy store. In particular, I was very interested in mathematical physics, and I had toyed with the idea of pursuing further studies in that specialisation, but did not know how, or where.
My fate came in the form of one professor Brett McInnes, who offered a 4th-year undergraduate project intriguingly entitled 'Understanding the cosmological constant'. We were told that not everyone would get the project they chose, and had to approach potential supervisors as soon as possible. With that sexy little title, I knew I had to find McInnes, and find him fast.
I made an appointment and came to see him the next afternoon after the projects were announced. I explained myself, and braced for disappointment. But my fears were unfounded. "You’re the only one who has expressed interest," he shrugged. I could not believe my luck.
That project revealed to me a whole new side of mathematics, one that very closely borders physics. I was amazed at how much mathematics was needed to formulate General Relativity, a theory that explains, amongst other things, black holes, the formation of galaxies, and the state of our observable Universe. I wanted to find out more. Much more.
Professor McInnes supervised me for a further year of postgraduate work in relativity at NUS. Towards the end of my MSc, I asked for his advice on the one difficult question that faces all graduates "What to do next?" He explained that if I was serious about this field, there was only one place to go.
"Cambridge," he said.
And so I did. I was very fortunate to be given a scholarship to read Part III of the Mathematical Tripos at the University of Cambridge. It is probably not an exaggeration to say that the Tripos is the most famous mathematical examination in the world, taken by illustrious names such as Hardy, Stokes and Eddington. Having survived the exam myself, I can honestly vouch that the Tripos was the toughest and most intense set of examinations I have ever sat for.
But Cambridge was kinder to me in many other ways. My first year there was a very liberating experience filled with many firsts: my first time sharing a house with friends from 5 different countries, my first time at a ballroom dancing lesson, first time playing the violin in an orchestra, my first political protest for democracy in Burma, my first shift in a shelter for the homeless, my first daylight saving (and my first time turning up an hour late), my first experience of snow, and how to live with it when the novelty wears out. The freedom and the opportunities in Cambridge to do what you want and act in the way you believe in were, to me, simply priceless.
Before I knew it, four memorable years have flown passed, and I graduated from Cambridge in 2007 with a PhD in Astrophysics. I still live in England, and still sneak back every now and again to Cambridge, where I maintain many wonderful friendships and collaborations. I continue to do research in theoretical cosmology, and yes, I'm still in touch with Brett McInnes, who is still a great inspirational figure to me.
Thinking back to that first day in the coach from Heathrow, I guess I was right. It has been a very long journey indeed.
Sirichai Chongchitnan read pure and applied mathematics at NUS from 1998 to 2002, graduating with a MSc in applied mathematics. He is now a researcher in astrophysics at Oxford University and a Fellow at Lincoln College. Brett McInnes is an Associate Professor in the department of Mathematics at NUS. He has published many highly cited papers on a wide range of topics in high-energy physics, and continues to inspire generations of budding researchers today. 
Sirichai Chongchitnan, PhD 
Sirichai and his mother in Oxford, at his graduation © Copyright 2001-2008 National University of Singapore. All Rights Reserved.
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