Do you have plan for PhD? He said

Hari Jumat ini begitu banyak cerita, sampai-sampai saya bagi jadi 2 bagian. Bagian satu adalah tulisan ini, bagian dua akan terpublish beberapa hari kedepan. Memang hari Jumat selalu istimewa bagi saya, selain karena bau weekend sudah dekat, juga karena ada Sholat Jumat. Seperti biasa, setelan yang saya gunakan setiap hari ini kalau enggak batik, pakaian muslim, ya kemeja. Mau ketemu Prof aja harus tampil perfect, apalagi ketemu Allah SWT :D. Sebelum berangkat ga lupa parfum sana parfum sini, juga sisir rambut dengan gatsby biar tambah cling.

Hari ini jadwal personal meeting dengan Profesor. Data dalam bentuk power point sudah saya siapkan. Data ini adalah laporan tentang kohesi carbon nano tubes (CNT) pada implantable material (titanium-based). Waktu menunjukkan pukul 17.00 dan saya bergegas berjalan menuju lantai 3 dengan tamvan dan vemverani(?) untuk menemui Prof. Kurang lebih begini percakapan kami sore itu,

Me : tok tok tok

Prof : 请进

Me : Hallo professor, today I come up with data from sample you gave me last time. I tried to make 3 different concentration of CNT bla bla bla

Prof : So, you use spin coating methods? Do you think this one is better than previous?

Me : I would say this more reliable data, because bla bla bla bla

Singkatnya kami selesai membahas data ini. Kemudian dia pindah membahas data pada file word satunya. File ini adalah file yang saya propose untuk mengikuti lomba Think Efficiency 2019 oleh Ecadin dan PT Shell Indonesia.

Prof : So, this is for your competition? I think this is good, but would be better if you provide data with nanostructure bla bla bla. What is the prize?

Me : Let me calculate Prof. Mmm, around 50.000 NTD.

Prof : Oh that’s not bad. Yes, you can use our CMK material. It would strengthen your data.

Me : Oh, umm. That’s great, I hope I can catch up with the time.

Prof : Yes yes. Anyway, do you have plan for PhD? I think you would be better if continue to pursue PhD.

Allahuakbar. Kaget saya ditembak gitu. Dia nawarin PhD! Padahal semester 2 aja belum kelar. Gelagepan dan bingung jawabnya.

Me : Mmm, Professor, my original plan is to find job either here or Europe. Of course in battery field. PhD would be great but I have no job experience, so my target is to find job first.

(Pasang muka panik)

Prof : I think if you hold PhD degree you will have much more chance to work with good salary. PhD is good for you even you will go back to Indonesia or find job outside.

Me : Mmm, I need to re-consider this Prof. Doing PhD is too complicated. Many things I should consider. It’s not short time, but 4-5 years.

Prof : Does your family support you?

Me : They always support me as long it is the best for me. It’s all depend on me.

Prof : I see. After you finish PhD you still have let’s say 30 years, it is worth to try. If stop here you only stuck to be assigned by people, just like operator. They ask you to do that, to do this. But, if you hold PhD you can be the chief or principal investigator.

(Ya Allah dipepet terus)

Me : mmm

Prof : After one year, I can decide which student is good and which one isn’t. I see you are involved doing research. If your concern to find a job, TSMC hire many PhD for foreign worker, but quite difficult for master degree holder. Even you get the job, don’t work in such company like Shell, you should work in research environment related your study here.

(TSMC itu perusahaan semikondutor dari Taiwan. Perusahaan ini sangat besar, 50% semikonduktor dunia diproduksi dari perusahaan ini. Perusahaan ini adalah impian bagi seluruh mahasiswa material science. Sedangkan Shell adalah oil and gas company).

Me : Yes Prof, understood. I also have desire to work in battery field. For example in Austria, they have such like ITRI named AIT (Austria Institute of Technology). They have battery division. I also keep my eye to work there after finish my master degree.

(Masih ngeyel xD. Oh ya, ITRI kalau di Indonesia sejenis LIPI, lembaga riset tapi bukan institusi akademik)

Prof : Yes, of course just I said before if you hold PhD it is much better for you. Please consider this ya.

Me : Okay Prof, thank you.

Kemudian keluar ruangan dengan perasaan berkecamuk. Di sisi lain saya bersyukur karena diberi pilihan yang baik, hanya saja kalaupun mau PhD saya ingin atmosfir yang baru misal di Eropa. Membayangkan kuliah di Taiwan rasanya berat karena standar budaya kerja yang tinggi seperti yang saya post di artikel sebelum-sebelumnya. Untuk sekarang, budaya kerja seperti itu masih okay bagi saya karena masih single, tapi kalau udah bawa istri harus mikir 1000x.

Kalau di Eropa, budaya kerja mereka terkesan santai tapi target tetap tercapai. Hak individu dijunjung tinggi, lebih memanusiakan manusia. Apalagi kalau membawa anak dan istri, Eropa pilihan yang sangat bagus.

InsyaAllah, things will figure itself. Nanti semakin mendekati hari H kan jadi lebih terang. Semoga Allah senantiasa membimbing. Aamiin.

-Hsinchu, 24 Mei 2018