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Arvind Shrivats hasn't even officially graduated from his PhD program, but he's already off to new adventures. After weathering the stress of an international move during a pandemic, he started a postdoc at Princeton University this May.
His PhD thesis explored emissions regulation markets, specifically Renewable Energy Certificate (REC) markets – a topic both important in an academic and real-world context. How do we shape these markets to be effective? How should companies behave within the system for maximum benefit?
While completing a PhD can be all-consuming, Arvind’s advice for anyone pursuing a grad degree is to not let your work completely define who you are. To balance the long hours spent on his research projects, he made space to simply enjoy life and give back to his community by volunteering at a summer camp for kids impacted by cancer.
"Climate change is a hot button issue. The question of how we can mitigate some of the damage we've done is a fascinating problem, and an important one."
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U of T Statistical Sciences: What got you interested in statistics?
Arvind Shrivats: I did my undergrad at the University of Waterloo, a joint major in statistics and financial analysis and risk management. After that, I started working full-time for Canada Pension Plan Investment Board. It made me reflect on what I really wanted. I was unhappy with my knowledge compared to the demands of the job. I wanted to get more comfortable in math and statistics and study some more. I had already committed to the job, so I spent a year with CPPIB and applied for grad schools the following year.
Can you tell me about your research during your PhD? What was your focus area or your thesis about?
My supervisor, Professor Sebastian Jaimungal, does a lot of work in a field of mathematics called stochastic control and mean-field games. Specifically, what we did was take tools from this branch of mathematics, and apply them to markets and systems that haven't been studied this way before. For my research, that happened to be environmental emissions market. So, things like carbon cap and trade markets and Renewable Energy Certificate, or REC, markets.
We analyzed these systems to understand two things. One, if you're a firm or entity that is regulated by the system, how should you behave within it? And two, if you are the regulator, and you want to achieve some environmental benefit to society, how do you design the system?
My thesis ended up being a collection of papers about this topic, written over the course of my PhD program.
One interesting finding was that many prior models tried to optimize the overall societal benefit as a whole. But we realized that this is not the way these kinds of markets actually work. The way they work is that everyone individually optimizes for themselves. That basically means that the price of carbon takes on a different form than what others have previously specified. It resulted in a pretty profound difference in the implications of the model.
Why is the environmental market of specific interest to you?
At some point in 2017 or 2018, I read a paper on this topic and found it useful. As it turned out, Professor Jaimungal happened to know the author. I was able to chat with the author and extend the topic slightly into a small research project for a class. And of course, climate change is a hot button issue. The question of how we can mitigate some of the damage we've done is a fascinating problem, and an important one. It was a neat marriage of interest and an important issue.
What are your next steps now that you're graduating?
At this point, I'm not one hundred per cent set on either academia or industry. I've accepted a postdoc position at Princeton University for the next year. A big part of this next year is discovering what I really want to do.
How has your PhD experience as a student prepared you for your next steps?
I very much tried to treat my PhD not as something that takes over my life, but the thing that I happen to do for a living right now. I'd try to make sure that it doesn't consume every aspect of my life. In terms of how it's impacted my life? It's a bit hard to say at this point, but 50 years down the road, maybe that'll become more apparent.
You said that you don't want to be consumed by your PhD. Why is having some balance important?
I think there's inevitably going to be times where your research is not going well. It’s fairly common for grad students to feel like they are defined through their research, and that our work is all we can offer. I never wanted that to be the case with me, so I tried to treat it like a job. When I was working, I put effort into it and did my best. And when I wasn't working, I'd try my hardest to forget about it and enjoy life.
Can you talk about your interests outside of school?
I volunteered for Camp Oochigeas. It's a summer camp for kids who have been impacted by cancer. Maybe they have cancer themselves, or a sibling passed away from cancer. When you're in that situation, you don't really get to be a normal kid. This camp gives these kids some sense of normalcy, a place where they can just be themselves, and where they’re not defined by their diagnosis.
Additionally, I'm a big sports fan. Like many math nerds, I was never really a great athlete. To keep up, I needed to make sure I was being smart about how I played sports, maximizing my skills. It’s actually what got me into math in the first place.
Over the years, I've dabbled in sports analytics. At Waterloo, I volunteered for the men's hockey team through stats keeping and analysis. For the last four to five years, I've written about hockey statistics, and I have a podcast. At one point I wanted to turn this into a career, but I don’t think that’s going to happen. I'm quite happy to keep it as a hobby.
Do you have any advice for students who are interested in pursuing a PhD?
Make sure you get along with your advisor because you have to be able to work with them and communicate with them. It’s the relationship with your supervisor that will drive your research forward during a PhD.
I was lucky to have a very strong advisor, but if you’re not quite so lucky, be willing to stand up for yourself and find someone else. I know that’s not easy to do, but it really helps to evaluate your relationship with your supervisor early on. If you are in a situation where you have to choose between a very well-established professor, who you don't have a great working relationship with, and a newer or less-renowned professor, who you have a good working relationship with, the latter is almost always the better choice.
Another thing I would advise is to consider your goals from the beginning. Anytime someone asks for your time, you should ask yourself: is this going to help me along the way to reach one of my goals? It’s easy to get overwhelmed by the many things you are asked to do as a PhD student, and I think it’s important to have respect for your own time and politely say “no”.
Was there anything that really helped you follow through on your degree and your research?
There’s always going to be times where you doubt yourself. In those times, you have to remember that other people saw something in you. I know this is easy to say and much harder to do. I struggle with this all the time, but it’s worth reminding yourself that you’re here for a reason.
Also, try to find a support system. Research, especially in math, can be really isolating. It’s just you and the problem you’re working on, right? It helped me a lot to get second opinions. Talk to people about the problems you have, because they're coming at it with fresh eyes. They can help see things for what they are, as opposed to what you want them to be.
Is there anything you appreciated most about your PhD program?
What I appreciated the most were the people. I got to interact and work with some very talented, clever, supportive people. I am a much richer human being as a result of those interactions, and the learning experiences I had – both within and outside of research.
That's by far the biggest thing that U of T has offered me: the access, connections, and experience working with people I greatly respect and admire.
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