A Conversation with Students on Research: What Graduate Study is Really About – Beyond the Degree?

A Conversation with Students on Research: What Graduate Study is Really About - Beyond the Degree?

Professor Xu Liang
Professor of Hydrology, University of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States

Description

WILLIAM MONG DISTINGUISHED LECTURES: RPG SHARING SERIES:

I would like to share some reflections on research, drawn from my experiences, in the hope that they may support graduate students as they navigate their research or dissertation work. My conversation would range from choosing a research topic and overcoming setbacks, to finding a sense of purpose in the research process and growing into an independent researcher.

Research is both inspiring and grounded. It often begins with wonder – like seeing “a World in a Grain of Sand” – but it also demands resilience, clarity, responsibility, and perseverance. Drawing from my own research area, I would like to emphasize the importance of curiosity, critical and independent thinking, and the establishment of a solid, broad foundational understanding in driving meaningful, sustained progress and knowledge creation.

The stages of research often mirror stages of life: the early phase can be isolating and uncertain, but over time it gives way to the quiet satisfaction of discovery. The joy of insight often arrives unexpectedly—just when one feels like to give up. With this in mind, I hope to offer practical advice for students at various stages of their programs, aiming to foster engagement, resilience, and confidence as they move forward.

About the Speaker

Professor Xu Liang is a full Professor of Hydrology at the University of Pittsburgh. Her primary research spans four main areas: land surface modeling and eco-hydrology, hydroinformatics using advanced machine learning methodologies, cyber system development, and applications of sensors and wireless sensor networks in environmental systems. She is actively engaged in interdisciplinary collaborations with atmospheric scientists, plant biologists, and computer scientists.

Professor Liang has been instrumental in the initial and subsequent development of the VIC land surface model and the VIC+ model. She received the Chancellor’s Distinguished Research Award (senior category) from the University of Pittsburgh in 2016, the Carnegie Science Environmental Award in 2014, and the Hellman Foundation Junior Faculty Research Award from the University of California, Berkeley in 2000. She is an elected Fellow of the American Meteorological Society (AMS) since 2016. She held the William Kepler Whiteford Professorship from 2014 – 2019. Before joining the University of Pittsburgh, she was a faculty member at the University of California, Berkeley. Dr. Liang earned her Ph.D. in hydrology from the University of Washington (Seattle) and completed postdoctoral work at Princeton University.