Common Questions About PhD Applications in AI & NLP: Guidance for Students from South Asia and Beyond

Summary:
This article gathers the most common questions students, particularly from South Asia, ask about pursuing a PhD in AI and NLP. It explains how to assess academic readiness, choose suitable supervisors and universities, identify meaningful research gaps, and explore impactful directions, including ethical AI and Islamic knowledge technologies. The Q&A is fully anonymised and based on recurring themes from many student conversations, offering practical guidance while ensuring privacy.

Over the years, many students, especially from South Asian countries, have reached out with questions about pursuing a PhD in Artificial Intelligence, NLP, or Machine Learning. Often they come with a strong BSc background, sometimes an MSc in a specialised area, and a desire to contribute to cutting edge research or meaningful real world impact.

I noticed that despite their different journeys, many of their questions overlap. So here is a generalised and anonymised Q&A capturing the themes I encounter most often. The goal is to make this a searchable resource for future students, insha’Allah.

❓ Q&A: Frequently Asked Questions About Applying for a PhD in AI and NLP

Q: I am a South Asian student with a BSc (and sometimes MSc) in CSE or AI. How do I know if I am ready for a PhD?

Most students from Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, and neighbouring countries have solid technical foundations but lack clarity on readiness. A quick self check:

Research exposure:
- Have you worked on a thesis, independent project, or small research task?
- Any conference, workshop, or journal submissions?
Academic preparation:
- Strong fundamentals in ML, DL, NLP, statistics, and data structures.
- Good performance in your BSc or MSc (CGPA is only one indicator).
Motivation:
- Are you driven by curiosity?
- Do you want to solve open ended problems?

If you tick these boxes, you are ready to explore, even if you feel unsure.

Q: What types of universities should South Asian students consider?

Students often focus only on USA or UK, but there are excellent research driven options globally:

UAE:
- MBZUAI (Machine Learning, NLP, Computer Vision) - very competitive, fully funded
Saudi Arabia:
- KAUST (Deep Learning, NLP, Computer Vision)
Qatar:
- HBKU and QCRI (NLP, Arabic resources, computational linguistics)
UK and Europe:
- University of Leeds (Prof. Eric Atwell - NLP, computational linguistics)
- University of Edinburgh, UCL, Cambridge NLP groups
- TU Munich, ETH Zurich
Asia:
- NUS, NTU Singapore (strong AI labs)

The most important point is to find supervisors whose research matches your interests, regardless of country.

Q: How do I choose a supervisor working in my topic of interest?

Look for professors with active research in areas like:

Low resource NLP
- Example: QCRI (Qatar), University of Copenhagen NLP
Multimodal Learning (vision, language, audio)
- Example: research groups working on vision-language models
Arabic NLP and Islamic Digital Humanities
- Many researchers in the Gulf region
Speech and Language for Underrepresented Languages
- University of Sheffield Speech Group, INRIA, CMU LTI

Browse their websites, check their publications, and see what they have published recently.

Useful aggregator:
👉 https://huggingface.co/papers/trending

Q: How do I identify a research gap when everything seems to be done already?

This is the most common issue. Here is a simple, reproducible method:

1. Read recent papers from top tier venues

ACL
EMNLP
NeurIPS
ICLR
ICML
CVPR (for multimodal work)
Interspeech (for speech related NLP)

2. Study the Limitations and Future Work parts

Authors often highlight gaps such as:

lack of cultural diversity
failure cases in certain languages
need for stronger evaluation
missing datasets outside Western contexts

3. Follow high level strategic reports

One of the best annual summaries:
👉 State of AI Report: https://www.stateof.ai/

It highlights:

emerging trends
underexplored problems
changes in research direction

4. Ask yourself: who is still underserved?

This often reveals meaningful gaps:

low resource languages
minority dialects
culturally aware multimodal understanding
safe and verified content generation

You do not need to reinvent the field. You just need to move it forward in a thoughtful way.

Q: Can I work on AI topics that benefit the Muslim world?

Yes, many students have this aspiration. Consider research directions that balance technical depth with Islamic authenticity, such as:

improving search and retrieval across Qur’an, Hadith, and Seerah
linking classical texts into structured knowledge graphs
assisting scholars with annotation and comparison tools
exploring AI for Islamic knowledge systems

These areas need thoughtful work and can meaningfully support the ummah.

Q: Is translating classical Islamic texts a good PhD topic?

Many students are interested in this, but it is important to clarify:

Machine translation itself is largely solved (Arabic to English models perform very well).
The real challenge is scholarly accuracy and fiqh context, which AI cannot guarantee.
Most core classical works already have translations (some abridged, some full).

Examples include:

Qur’anic commentaries
Major Hadith collections
Seerah works

Where research is still needed:

quality assurance tools
semantic alignment between classical and modern sources
scholar assistive annotation tools
culturally aware evaluation benchmarks

These are academically strong and socially impactful.

Q: Where can I find examples of supervisors or labs working on relevant topics?

Here are a few public links that students commonly explore:

HBKU and QCRI People Page:
https://www.hbku.edu.qa/en/qcri/people
University of Leeds NLP (Prof. Eric Atwell):
https://eps.leeds.ac.uk/computing/staff/33/professor-eric-atwell
Faculty directories for exploration:
- https://scholar.google.com
- https://dblp.org

These are only examples of how to explore, not specific recommendations.

Q: If I am working full time, is it possible to pursue higher studies later and still remain connected to my organisation?

This is a question many early-career professionals ask, especially those working in tech or research-focused environments.

In many cases, it is possible to maintain some level of involvement, depending on:

the flexibility of your organisation
whether your studies are full time or part time
the nature of your responsibilities
whether your academic work aligns with the organisation’s long-term goals

Some people switch to part-time contributions or advisory roles during their studies. Others take a break and rejoin after completing their degree. Many organisations value higher studies and try to accommodate them when possible.

The key is honest communication and early planning. Higher studies usually open more opportunities rather than close doors.

Q: Is it possible to get a direct PhD scholarship after completing only a bachelor’s degree?

Students from Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, and similar regions ask this frequently.

The honest answer:

Direct PhD admission after a bachelor’s is possible but very rare in Europe.

Most European universities expect a completed Master’s degree because it demonstrates:

readiness for independent research
academic maturity
familiarity with research methodologies
the ability to work on long-form academic writing

Exceptions exist for students with exceptional research output or integrated MSc–PhD programmes. The USA is more flexible, and some Asian universities offer combined tracks. But for the majority of South Asian students, the typical path is:

➡️ Bachelor’s → Master’s → PhD

Q: So is doing a Master’s abroad useful before starting a PhD?

Absolutely.
A Master’s abroad is not just about academic preparation. It helps you ground yourself in ways that are important before committing to a 3–5 year PhD.

Students from South Asia often face several challenges when moving abroad for the first time:

adjusting to a new country and culture
living far from family
homesickness
managing daily life without familiar support systems
missing home food
missing the sound of adhan and the Muslim environment
navigating cold weather, different social norms, and academic expectations

These experiences are normal but can be overwhelming if the first step abroad is a demanding PhD.

A Master’s degree gives you:

time to adapt to the new culture
space to adjust emotionally and mentally
an opportunity to build confidence living independently
a chance to understand the academic system
the ability to test whether research life actually suits you

Many students realise during the Master’s that they truly enjoy research, while others realise that a PhD may not be the right path — both outcomes are valuable.

In short:

A Master’s abroad is a gentle transition into a new world.
A PhD is a marathon. It helps to train before running the race.

Private conversations remain private.
This Q&A is intentionally broad and synthesised from recurring themes, not any specific discussion.

🌿 Final Thoughts

If you are a student from South Asia, or anywhere else, exploring a PhD in AI, know that uncertainty is normal. Nobody starts this journey with full clarity. What matters is intentional effort, curiosity, and sincerity.

I will continue sharing general guidance whenever possible, insha’Allah, so more students can benefit.

For Part 2 of this series, see:
More Questions Students Ask About Higher Studies: Practical Guidance for South Asian Students