Research Ireland ADVANCE CRT 3rd Cohort Celebration, Oct. 2025

It has been such a long time I have not spent time writing something about activities outside research. This year 2025 has been so busy so far with paper submissions, confirmation report after 18 months of PhD, placement at TU Delft (I did some dairies and reflections for this period actually but I kept it personally in Notion, I will release it in the near future).

The current moment sitting there in Waterford Planket train station, I want to write down some of my thoughts over the event on 28th and 29th October in Waterford at which we celebrated the graduation of 3rd Cohort from my funding body Research Ireland ADVANCE CRT. Waterford is the oldest city in Ireland, situated on the River Suir.

Photo taken from the talk of [Sam Gregson](https://www.badboyofscience.com/about) in our event.

It’s always a joy to meet people who share the same mindset and the same struggles of a PhD journey. With them, you don’t need to explain much about your work, challenges, or little moments of happiness; they simply understand. Over 2 days, here are few things I heard from my peers and talks from keynote speakers and 3rd and 2nd cohorts.

I am happy to see people doing well and keeping passion with their research, and maintaining good relationships with their supervisors.
Many also shared their struggles with loneliness and how they’ve learned to cope with it, e.g., working in the park, resting, traveling around, calling the family,… while most people like working from home due to constraints like living far from the office, transportation,…, I also met people where their office is the same like us, where people like coming to the office and talking to people ^^.
Your success often depends on having a kind supervisor, someone who treats you with mutual respect, listens, is patient, and truly cares about your growth.

Last but not least, everyone has their own challenges and struggles, so none of us are alone in this interesting yet demanding journey. Be brave, stay resilient, and don’t hesitate to open up to people you trust, to seek advice, support, or simply a few words of encouragement.

SFI ADVANCE CRT Research Summer School, Jun. 2024

From June 10 to 14, I had the privilege of attending a remarkable 5-day summer school organized by SFI ADVANCE CRT in the picturesque town of Killarney, County Kerry, Ireland. This intensive program offered two training tracks for PhD students: Social and STEM. What made this experience truly enriching was the interdisciplinary collaboration, where we formed groups with members from both tracks to propose case studies.

Day-by-Day Learning Journey:

Day #0: I travel with my friend in the Trinity College Dublin to Killarney. After lunch at Muckross Park Hotel & Spa, we have two keynote speakers talking about impacts of AI on Networking and society.
Day #1: We delved into Logistic Regression, Neural Networks, and Large Language Models (LLMs).
Day #2: The focus was on Reinforcement Learning.
Day #3: We explored Data Visualization techniques.
Day #4: We present our group’s case study.

One of the highlights was working on a collaborative project where we proposed an LLM-based mobile application for mental health support. This application is designed as a supplemental tool, not for medical treatment. Collaborating with peers from various fields such as computer vision, e-Health, and neuro-psychology broadened my perspective and enhanced my learning experience.

Exploring the Natural Beauty of Killarney Despite the intensive schedule, I made sure to enjoy the stunning nature around Killarney. Here are some of the memorable spots I visited:

Killarney national park : A beautiful expanse of greenery and serene lakes.
Muckross abbey: A short visit to this historic site was quite enriching.
Lough Leane: We took a delightful lake cruise, soaking in the scenic beauty of the islands.

Unfortunately, I couldn’t visit the Torc waterfall this time, but I hope to return soon to explore more of this beautiful region.

Overall, this summer school was not only a great learning opportunity but also a chance to connect with amazing people and enjoy the breathtaking landscapes of Killarney.

SFI ADVANCE CRT Research Colloquium, Apr. 2024

We had great time of Research Colloquium event organized by SFI ADVANCE CRT in Tralee, County Kerry. In the first day, we showcased our posters in the format of presenters and hunters where we can talk about research while receiving lots of advice and feedbacks from fellows. Besides, we, together, have outdoor activities including pedalo boats, climbing wall, and the tower of Hanoi quizzes in Tralee Bay Wetlands. In the second day, we have two sessions on entrepreneurship. I was quite impressed by the sharing of how to think like a entrepreneur, the mindset of thinking ahead and focusing on scalability rather than thinking of starting up, and insisting on doing hard/uncomfortable things in the long-term road in the first session.