51�ؿ�����

Xiulan from China – Alumna

What year did you graduate?

"I graduated in 2009."

What is your current job and where is it located?

"I am currently working as a senior hydrologist at London Stock Exchange. Our team is based in Oslo."

What was the focus of your thesis?

"It was about hydropower in California, I did the thesis with my current company."

How did you find your job and how long did it take?

"During the first summer of the programme, a professor informed us about an opportunity for an internship in this company. I was the lucky one to get it, and even more lucky to continue the relationship later. After my studies, I took a PhD and then worked as a consultant for a while. I rejoined the team in 2017."

What is your favourite thing about your job?

"It is the chance to be creative, and how professional knowledge is appreciated within the team. Among other things, our focus is forecasting hydropower. There are of course computer models to help, but our market is worldwide and we face different challenges in different regions. This makes the job very interesting."

What was especially useful about the Master’s programme that you use in your everyday work?

"The knowledge of hydrology of course. Also, the programming skills, I started using Matlab during the Master’s programme. No matter where you work, skills like Matlab and Python are very important these days. I also think I learned a lot from group work. In almost all courses, there were tasks that we needed to solve as a team. Team discussions are now part of my everyday work and I appreciate that I had the experience during the Master’s. During my education in my home country, the ability to solve problems alone was the focus."

How international was your programme?

"I remember that the programme was very international. We had students from almost all continents. When one classmate told me that she was from Bhutan, I had to find a map to locate it. She showed me her country and culture which I might never have come across otherwise."

Do you have any advice for prospective students coming to Lund?

"Think out of the box, then the Master’s programme in Water Resources Engineering, and 51�ؿ�����, could provide more than what you expected!"