Jinghe enjoys the freedom to devote herself to what she finds interesting
Jinghe is 24 years old and comes from China. She is studying the master’s programme in Sustainable Energy Engineering and enjoys swimming, running, and Taekwondo outside of the classroom.
What made you choose KTH and your master’s programme?
KTH enjoys a prestigious reputation of technology and is highly respected worldwide, especially in the domains of energy and natural sciences.
My well-respected project supervisor Dr. Zitao Yu highly recommended KTH for the reason that advanced methods are applied to identify, describe, quantify and find solutions to a diverse range of energy engineering problems in sustainable energy engineering, which is absolutely what I want to learn.
I have sound theoretical foundations in turbo machinery, CAD, fluid mechanics, thermodynamics and heat transfer theory due to my undergraduate studies. All those will favour me in further research. And what I want to explore further is energy, and this master’s programme is one of the leading energy majors in the world.
What made you choose Stockholm and Sweden?
Stockholm is known as the "Venice of the North" and is the capital of Sweden; the old city has 700 years of its history, museums, concert halls, churches everywhere, and a strong cultural atmosphere. All of these attributes were a great attraction for me. More than 24 thousand islands constitute a beautiful natural scenery, that means in addition to the cultural benefits, natural sightseeing is also a treasure here! Besides, Sweden is a developed country, only if you live here, you could experience why it is so rich, developed, peaceful and full of happiness.
What do you like most about KTH?
The freedom. You can devote yourself to what you are actually interested in. You can choose the courses that interest you, although you will be asked to choose a track (direction) in my programme. The track offers you some recommended courses, which may help you to consolidate your knowledge base. Your research can be based entirely on your preferences and career planning.
What are your impressions of Stockholm and Sweden?
Stockholm is elegant, noble, fashionable, but also a city that is approachable. People here are all well-educated. Although their native language is Swedish, everyone is good at English. The whole society is tolerant. It shows enough respect and cares about the disabled.
What do you like most about being here?
The life pace is leisurely. You never feel under big pressure. Everything just goes in apple-pie order. Likewise, people around you are hardworking. Every classmate in class is listening intently. The atmosphere pushes you to study harder.
What is your best memory so far from your time at KTH?
The teamwork! There is much homework you need to complete with others. Besides, thanks to the collaboration, you would gain a lot of friends from all over the world. It is fantastic.
What do you think are the differences between studying at KTH and your previous university?
1. Students can choose their future courses and their research topic completely according to their preferences and career planning. However, at my home university, students are supposed to follow the instructor, and just work as the instructor requires.
2. Project courses are part of the studies here. Students can cooperate with others, and this kind of courses does not have a particularly clear Pass/Fail standard, which means students have a high degree of freedom and space to play and think. Many teachers even only give you a topic and some very general requirements, and how to complete the task is determined by the students themselves. These courses make students create something and apply the theory into practice.
3. Almost every week there will be some company or persons at KTH holding seminars, such as King, Skype, Spotify, Google and so on. And these guests are willing to interact with students.
What would you like to say to students thinking of choosing KTH for master’s studies?
Firstly, congratulations! You have made a brilliant choice! Professors here are modest and learned; they are so kind to help you solve any academic issues. And your classmates are excellent students from all over the world. You can learn a lot from them. It is a dream place to live your life and to study!