Oxford PhD Application Strategies for International Students (with Dr Komal Yasmin Malik)

How do you get into a University of Oxford PhD as an international student? Getting into Oxford and navigating PhD funding as an international student is extra hard which is why I'm super excited to share my new video with friend and colleague, Dr Komal Yasmin Malik. We discuss her journey from Pakistan to Oxford and how she got the extremely competitive Wellcome Trust Studentship to do a PhD in Developmental Epigenetics at Oxford (to our knowledge the first Pakistani to do so) while also getting into the University of Cambridge! She shares some really great strategies on PhD applications for international students especially on getting funding. We also discuss how she built a strong research profile while having low access to research training in Pakistan and how she stood out in a pool of global talent. Hope you find this deep dive interview useful! In this video, we cover: 00:00:00 To get to where no one else has, do something no one else would do 00:00:47 Did you think you'd get into Oxford? 00:01:40 What was your educational background 00:04:20 How did you build a strong research profile 00:06:27 Importance of building independent thinking skills 00:12:20 What were your grades and did Oxford accept your GPA from abroad 00:15:00 What did you do to stand out as an international student 00:17:32 How contacting professors directly is an amazing strategy for international PhD applicants 00:18:38 Cambridge PhD interview and funding experience 00:20:15 How was your Oxford PhD application process and PhD interview 00:21:15 How to write a research proposal for a PhD application 00:23:24 How did you find funding for the PhD as an international student 00:25:53 What were the reasons they selected you 00:28:14 Did they challenge the research proposal in the interview 00:30:27 How did you get strong recommendation letters 00:33:30 Why speaking up in class is important 00:35:09 Other funding opportunities for students from Pakistan 00:39:18 What made you choose Oxford over Cambridge 00:41:18 Inspiring words of encouragement for women in STEM 00:45:25 For anyone feeling scared to travel abroad alone for university