How To (Move To &) Live in the UAE - w/ Kaushik

Naman frames Kaushik's experience across mechanical engineering in India, a thesis-based master's at Louisiana State University, and doctoral research at NYU Abu Dhabi. The discussion compares academic life, finances, immigration, work opportunities, transportation, culture, and healthcare in the UAE with Kaushik's earlier experience in India and the United States.

Kaushik found a LinkedIn post for a bioprinting opportunity at NYU Abu Dhabi and emailed the professor. His previous research matched the opening, which led to the position. The move was not a long-planned migration strategy; it emerged from a specific research fit, his interest in deepening the thesis work, and curiosity about a rapidly developing region.

NYU operates degree-granting campuses in New York, Abu Dhabi, and Shanghai. Kaushik remained an NYU student while conducting the research component of his PhD in Abu Dhabi. The structure let him keep ties to a US institution while broadening his academic network and experience outside the United States.

Kaushik completed required coursework in the United States and moved to Abu Dhabi for research. He found little reduction in academic rigor because faculty had trained at institutions such as Harvard, Yale, Stanford, and Princeton. He was also struck by the highly selective student body and by undergraduates participating directly in laboratory research.

NYU Abu Dhabi covered Kaushik's housing, removing the expense that consumes much of many doctoral stipends. That support made saving and investing possible during the PhD. He is careful that this is his funded university experience, not a promise that every graduate program or every resident in the UAE receives the same package.