What is required of a research student for my research projects?

I not actually doing research in "computational physics". I am merely using computational tools to investigate physics. In computational physics research the core business is on the physics, not the 'computation'. One begins with a very well-defined physics problem to solve. Computational tools such as programming language or numerical packages are merely tools. if one  knows the tools well it help a lot in the process. However, knowing only the tool does not lead you anywhere. At the end of the day what one really needs is the physics. Familiarity with all the computational tools is only a necessary condition but not the sufficient one. The computational tools are merely the means. But if you can't master the means there is no point to talk about the physics.


Nevertheless, the familiarity knowledge in computational tools is a relatively advanced skill to pick up. For example, you need to know to command and use the language (e.g., fortran), software packages (e.g., mathematica), graphical packages e.g., gnuplot, and the physics packages e.g., ABINIT, WIEN2k, LAMMPS etc. at your finger tips. Usually undergraduates don't learn all these sort of tool as they are mainly meant for people who are diving deep into the research field. So i don't expect a generic Malaysia undergraduate in physics to know very much such specialised technical knowledges. i guess a basic training in numerical methods could serve a good foundation for more advanced computational techniques which could be picked up when she/he begins the research. 


For most fresh Malaysian students graduated from local undergraduate physics schools which normally run a 3-year course, the physics and mathematics training is simply insufficient. Personally I am reluctant to believe that an excellent undergraduate result in a local Malaysian university infers an excellent physics training. Good academic score on paper merely says one is excellent in scoring exams, not necessarily means knowing sufficient physics. That is the Malaysian undergraduate system I know. So if you wish to do a PhD I reckon you really got to do a lot of reading and re-training in basic physics and its methodology. Be expected to spend a lot of time and effort to brush up fundamental before embark on a Ph.D-level research program.

Many people have talked with me for the possibility to do a PhD or master research study. So far only two persons stay, the rest are all scared away for various reasons, one being that my research program looks too scary. If you are thinking of taking up the challenge, please be prepared for a intellectually challenging life ahead. There is no free lunch in the academic world. You have to earn it yourself.