With the support of the Overseas Research Award for PhD students, I am visiting Prof. Jun S. Liu in the Department of Statistics, Harvard University.

Shrouded in a peaceful and natural atmosphere, the squirrels jump down and up along the tree trunk to greet the morning, and the ring of the bell from Memorial Church gently reminds us of the start of the day. The “Keep Harvard Healthy”  slogan, together with sanitisers, appears everywhere to fight the global pandemic, and the requirements of daily self-assessment and weekly self-testing help to achieve a stable and healthy work environment.

In the first meeting with Prof. Liu, he introduced me to a project related to my recent research. The project was recently initiated by two members of his group. In fact, we can arrange a meeting with Prof. Liu whenever we make any progress. I appreciate that he can always point out key issues in our work and guide us to think more broadly. We also have a weekly group meeting where group members share the status of their research, and the interesting topics and insightful comments from Prof. Liu help me broaden my research scope.

Additionally, I have the opportunity to learn about the work of other researchers in the seminar course STAT300 every Thursday at noon. The Professors also organise panel chats to share their experiences and suggestions about academic job opportunities; these panel discussions are helpful for career planning. In-person meetings have become a luxury in the pandemic era. Although masks cover the speakers’ smiles, their sparkling clear eyes still convey beaming enthusiasm, which inspires me to work harder.

I am further enlightened by the weekly colloquium held on Mondays, during which the invited researcher gives an in-depth talk. Many cross-department (e.g., from Computer Science) and cross-university (e.g., from MIT) virtual seminars are also held.

I joined the annual PhD Student Retreat activity, which consists of two parts. The first part involves hiking through the city – randomly walking the old streets in Boston. I made several friends through casual chatting, and I had a fantastic immersion into the city. Many families displayed skull-shaped pumpkins for the upcoming Halloween festival. In the afternoon , all Professors gave a short talk to introduce their research interests and welcome students for collaboration.

Besides academic activities, I actively participate in sports to improve my mood for further research. My sporting activities involved playing badminton twice a week and swimming occasionally. To immerse myself in Harvard, I visited several historical buildings, such as the Harvard Museum of Natural History.

How time flies! As I type these words, half of the visiting period has passed. I will cherish the remaining time to work with wonderful people and to have a deeper campus exploration.

I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my host advisor, Prof. Liu, for his worthy guidance; to my supervisor, Prof. Fan, for his considerable support; and to the Department for offering such a great opportunity.