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Student who have earned a scholarship from a U.S. university: ‘Lessons and a scientific conference held at BHOS played a big role in my earning a scholarship’
Isa Jafarov is a 5th year student of the Process Automation Engineering Department of Baku Higher Oil School (BHOS). He has been awarded a full Ph.D scholarship by a U.S. university, regardless of the fact that he does not have a master's degree. Isa Jafarov will study the Cybersecurity field of the Computer Science specialty at the City University of New York. The BHOS student has been awarded a $135,000 scholarship from this university.
Isa was admitted to BHOS with 695 points. He currently works as an Information Security Specialist at Bank Respublika and as a Penetration Tester at Cyrex.
We present to your attention an interview with the successful BHOS student.
- Isa, what was the role of your education at Baku Higher Oil School in your success?
- The lessons I took at Baku Higher Oil School aroused my interest in ICT. As my interest to this field was growing, I began to learn about programming and cybersecurity from various sources. The International Scientific Conferences of Students and Young Researchers organized at BHOS also provided an opportunity for me to conduct research in this area. In 2021, I presented an article to the II International Scientific Conference of Students and Young Researchers dedicated to the 98th anniversary of National Leader Heydar Aliyev. The publication of this article in a conference journal and another study I am currently conducting have played a major role in my earning a full Ph.D scholarship from a U.S. university.
- Why did you decide to study in the United States and how have you achieved this success?
- When I saw how researchers discover a new generation of security vulnerabilities, I became interested in doing research. When I was reading about some research conducted in this area, I was impressed by the creativity of the author, who found a successful solution after working with his team on a difficult project for a long time, and I decided to become a researcher. That's why I took an interest in Ph.D programs.
Knowing that the United States is a leading country in this field, I focused on studying there. I contacted professors who had the same interests as me and were actively researching in this area. After long interviews, the professor saw that I was interested in the doctoral program and had enough technical knowledge, and he invited me to join his team.
- What social activities have you been doing at Baku Higher Oil School for 5 years? What have these activities brought you?
- I have taken an active part in the competitions organized by the Intellectual Games Club of Baku Higher Oil School. I was attracted by the competitiveness of these competitions. The competitions organized by this club also played a big role in increasing my intellectual knowledge.
- By what criteria did you choose the US university?
- The most important factor for me was the proximity of the research to the field. For example, the professor who conducts research in the field of wireless network security invited me to join his team, but I rejected his university because it did not suit my interests.