SINGA Scholarship Recipient, Elif Esra Aydin, Shares Her Story of the Bond-free Award Application Process to Pursue Her PhD in Architecture and Sustainable Design at the Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD)

Hi all, I am Elif Esra Aydin from Turkiye. I am ethnically Turkish, and I spent my whole education in Izmir until my PhD in Singapore. I am known for pursuing my entire education with scholarships since the 6th grade!

I studied in governmental schools until university, then completed a Bachelor’s degree in Architecture and a Master’s degree at Yasar University, a private university in Izmir. As shared in more detail below, I earned my PhD in the Architecture and Sustainable Design Pillar of the Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD).

I started my master’s degree with an enthusiasm for learning more about sustainable design. To be honest, I enjoyed the research and collaborations with other departments while finding a fun way for me to understand and evaluate design better, with numbers obtained through performance simulations. My master’s research focused on building-scale energy efficiency and daylighting. During my second year in my master’s, I grew more interested in learning the deeper and wider performance-based design. In pursuing research, I wondered when we design a building, how we affect our lives while cities are designed piece by piece. Thus, during my doctoral research, I developed an urban design modeling strategy across multi-scalar and multi-performance aspects, which led me to explore how cities affect our lives. I built my expertise one above another, integrating scales to approach design evaluation holistically.

Thanks to my 10 years in higher education, I am now an expert in building and urban science and design, with a focus on performance evaluations of urban heat islands, energy consumption, daylighting, urban ventilation, and outdoor thermal comfort.

SINGA (Singapore International Graduate Award) Details

I was awarded the SINGA (Singapore International Graduate Award) for my 5-year PhD journey. As Manoj Chamlagin also shared, this is a fully funded and bond-free scholarship.

The scholarship covered the full tuition fee at SUTD for 4+1 years, while providing a one-time settling-in allowance (SGD 1,000), an airfare grant (SGD 1,500), and a monthly stipend of SGD 2,500 (before passing qualifying exams) and SGD 2,700 (after passing). Since I started in 2017, my 5th year was granted as an additional year due to the pandemic and its impact on research.

Were You Offered any Other Scholarships?

NA – each university might have unique scholarships, depending on the grant received by institutions, the students should search more and ask the professors about this.

Educational Background

I have always been among the top three in my classes. This doesn’t mean that I was the best in the world, but I was recognized for my delicate work, curious intellect, and good interpersonal skills. I entered the Architecture Department in 2010 with the highest exam grade of the department and graduated at the top of my class (2014) with a 3.53/3.00 GPA at Yasar University. I then completed my Master of Science degree with a thesis in Architecture at Yasar University with a GPA of 3.79/4.00. For my PhD, I graduated with a GPA of 4.77/5.00, where most courses were project-based rather than exam-based.

Since the age of 12, I have received scholarships from the Turkish government through national exams. Thanks to my university exam scores and GPA, I also received an educational scholarship, covering tuition fees, to study at Yasar University for 7 years (4 years BArch, 3 years MSc).

During my Bachelor’s degree, I selected sustainability-related courses, believing that architects have the power to shape houses, cities, and ultimately the world. With this focus, I began my expertise in energy efficiency at the building scale during my Master’s degree. This was when I started working in computational building design, using computational tools to generate building forms and simulate their energy performance to identify the best-performing designs.

I owe my deepest thanks to my Master’s advisor, Dr. Ilker Kahraman, who encouraged and supported me to pursue a fully funded PhD program abroad. He saw my potential and capability to thrive in a “bigger sea” after knowing me for seven years. After organizing and participating in international events and conferences, I became curious to expand my scope to the urban scale, exploring the relationship between environmental performance factors such as urban heat island, energy efficiency, and daylighting.

I am a person who seeks to understand the bigger picture while also paying attention to details—like piecing together a puzzle. This mindset and my research proposal helped me gain my PhD advisor’s attention with just one email during my final year of master’s studies.

How Did You Prepare to Apply to the Singapore University of Technology and Design?

How Did You Find Information About SINGA (Singapore International Graduate Award) and Singapore University of Technology and Design?

During my master’s degree (2014–2017), I worked as a research assistant at Yasar University. Since my advisor cared deeply about finding me a scholarship and advisor for my PhD, he followed application opportunities through his network. He forwarded me the SINGA scholarship email, which included details about the coverage, departments, and professors.

I applied for this scholarship through Turk Egitim Vakfi (TEV-Turkish Education Foundation) for SINGA, as they have managed to collect the first submission and hold in-person interviews in Turkey.

Among all universities and A-STAR institutions, I prioritized finding a supervisor aligned with my research interests. When I identified Assoc. Prof. J. Alstan Jakubiec (currently at the University of Toronto), I contacted him to learn more about SUTD and the opportunities to do a PhD in Singapore.

Did You Take Any Standardized Tests? If So, How Did You Prepare for Them?

I do not fully remember all the details for the tests. But while providing all necessary documents, I also provided official documents proving that my Bachelor’s and Master’s education was conducted 100% in English to meet the English proficiency requirement.

How Did You Prepare to Apply to the SINGA (Singapore International Graduate Award)?

First, I contacted the professor whom I wanted to work with. I believe the supervisor is more important than the university name. But I am aware also university quality can change your future in a good way. After our online call, he offered to supervise me and encouraged me to apply to the institution and the scholarship.

There was one bottleneck: the Architecture Department was not originally listed among the eligible departments, yet there was an architecture department with faculty information listed in the university to apply. Based on feedback from professors and peers, SINGA was mainly awarded to engineering students from Turkiye. Many believed I had little or even no chance compared to engineering applicants.

I think I was the first architect from Turkiye to be awarded SINGA in 2017. Afterward, SUTD and other universities in Singapore began accepting more architecture students. In my application documents and interviews, I strongly defended that architects should also be given opportunities because we bring a unique “design” skillset while learning the engineering aspects to integrate into the design phase. I still defend this notion due to the lack of adequate scholarships for architecture students/researchers in all over the world.

For the required documents, I collected reference letters from two professors and my advisor, with whom I had worked closely. My PhD supervisor provided invaluable help in editing my personal and research statements to meet academic standards.

How is (was) Your Experience at the Singapore University of Technology and Design?

I mostly enjoyed my experience at SUTD. Being a small university, it offered a tight-knit academic environment, but it also meant seeking external help when local resources were limited.

I volunteered as Event and Media Director of the SUTD Graduate Student Association for two years. This was a great experience to connect with peers and create healthy social platforms, which helped balance the ups and downs of the PhD journey.

However, one challenge was that SINGA (when tied only to the university, like in my case at SUTD) did not provide funding for conferences, travel, or equipment. I had to save for six months from my limited stipend to attend conferences. Some part of the conference fees was covered but this was a process of spending first and then being reimbursed later. While some students had research budgets for every small expense, I often covered experimental costs from personal savings. I believe universities should establish conditional research funds for international students.

Another challenge of being at a small university is that professors sometimes leave during a student’s PhD, as happened to me at the end of my first year. Fortunately, SUTD was flexible in allowing external advisors when professors transitioned elsewhere, and I had a great supervisor, Prof. Bige Tuncer, at SUTD to support my journey in any matter that I needed.

How Do You Rate the Singapore University of Technology and Design Academically and Why?

Academically, I found the PhD curriculum in Architecture relatively weak. The available courses were not sufficient; in fact, I had to take courses that I had previously taught as a research assistant at Yasar University. Since the Architecture Department admitted very few students, specialized courses of interest were often unavailable. This may have changed already in these years; I am just sharing my experience for the period of 2017-2022.

That said, research was the central element of the PhD, and the quality of the experience depended heavily on the advisor and their mentorship style. Overall, it was a socially rewarding experience where I made many friends thanks to the small student community.

How Does the Singapore University of Technology and Design Support International Students?

The scholarship included a one-time allowance and travel grant, but both were disbursed nearly two months after arrival. Students had to prepare at least three months of personal funds to settle into a new country and life.

What Do You Think Made Your Application Stand Out?

During my master’s degree, I trained in a multidisciplinary environment. Though I am an architect, I collaborated closely with engineers, learning about mechanical systems and mathematical optimization to enhance design evaluation.

Strong grades are common among applicants, but I believe what stood out was my ability to bridge disciplines and apply my skills to real-world research problems. Additionally, I relied on my interpersonal skills to communicate effectively.

My SUTD supervisor, Prof. Bige Tuncer (currently at Eindhoven University of Technology), once told me that when I present myself or my research, my eyes “shine”, convincing others that I truly understand what I am talking about and that I can manage the task. I believe that this ability helped my application stand out both in documents and in interviews.

What Would You Have Done Differently if You Were Going Through the Process Again?

I think I did my best at that stage of my life and age. I do not wish I had done things differently because the application process taught me valuable lessons about academic relationships and building a vision for my future research.

The only thing I would have changed is to pursue a research grant during my PhD to better support my conference travel and experimental costs.

What Advice Would You Give Those Looking to Apply for a Similar Scholarship?

Find an advisor first, and don’t hesitate to ask tough questions about research funding and future opportunities.

Apply for grants to support your research and explore exchange programs with your supervisor.

Prepare yourself to live abroad, keeping in mind that the scholarship stipend may not fully cover your lifestyle.

Make conscious decisions; you cannot blame others for challenges after committing to a university and scholarship. Taking responsibility is part of being an adult.

Plan what you want to work on before applying for this scholarship. This matters regardless of the quality of the university or the professors. You will be the expert in that topic and field, so find something that you enjoy.