Kendall Lynch, University of Michigan
I had an amazing time during HARDI! The program was equal parts intense and excellent. I learned so much in such a short time, and I was challenged to think clearly and deeply by the HARDI faculty. I will forever benefit from their instruction on both research and career matters. Additionally, the friendships I formed with the other students will be relationships that last throughout my career (I hope 🙂 ). I enjoyed the program a great deal and am grateful for the opportunity to work with such incredible faculty and students!
Yifei Lu, University of Rochester
HARDI was a fantastic experience for me. Here, I met brilliant peers from elite Ph.D. programs all over the world. We spent so much time learning and having fun together that I felt like a member of a big family at the end of the program. Moreover, the invited speakers are all well-recognized experts in their fields. They brought invaluable perspectives on different topics that are hard to get in any single Ph.D. program. The lectures reminded me of my distance from them right now, but more importantly, showed me the path through which I might reach their level one day.
Chao Jin, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
HARDI program is a journey full of surprises. The warm welcome from UH faculties and students help me “survive” the program. The extensive course design allows me to understand the knowledge framework of other fields. More importantly, the intensive interaction with the speakers and mates enriches my understanding of the profession. Hope we can reunite soon!
Jaekon Jung, the University of Hawaii at Manoa
It was an intensive, but rewarding 3-week consortium. I got to meet people at the forefront of accounting research and was able to form a meaningful bond with other outstanding Ph.D. students. Besides, I feel that I learned how to participate and contribute to the seminar discussion. Thank you, Prof. Jung and Prof. Pourjalali for giving me the opportunity to take part in HARDI-2022.
Yuxia Zou, University of Cambridge
Being the only accounting Ph.D. candidate in my school, I always treasure opportunities to learn from faculties and fellow PhDs from other schools. In this regard, the HARDI program felt like heaven to me. During the past three weeks, we had the leading scholars teaching us their areas of expertise and sharing their career advice. I consider this opportunity once in a lifetime as all our four faculties are the top in the field, and have been playing a tremendous role in advancing the literature. What made this learning experience particularly rewarding was the cohort of twenty diligent and supportive fellow PhDs, who did not only actively contribute to the class, but also made great companions explore the beautiful Honolulu. Thanks to HARDI, I was able to learn how much I did not know, how many promising areas to explore from the brightest minds, and bond with twenty lovely fellow PhDs with whom to share our academic journals together for many years to come.
Sumair Hussain, Copenhagen Business School
It is very hard to describe the HARDI experience in words. HARDI lets you spend 3 weeks in Hawaii, learn from some of the best faculty in our field, etc. All this sounds great, but most importantly, you get to do all this with some of the nicest and smartest PhDs from around the world. My only complaint with HARDI is you only get to do it once.
Xue Li, University of Washington
HARDI was such a delightful event! During the three weeks at UH Manoa, we had the chance to learn from world-class accounting researchers, and bond with fellow accounting Ph.D. students in and outside of the classroom. I especially appreciate the career advice from the HARDI faculty, and the connection I am able to form with a diverse group of students. HARDI was truly a fun and educational experience.
Wonhyeong Kim, KAIST
I very much appreciate everything in HARDI-2022. This consortium provided me with a priceless experience to learn from leading accounting scholars and interact with doctoral students from top research institutions! I confidently believe that HARDI is a perfect opportunity for accounting Ph.D. students who want to develop their research insights and ideas, and all participating students will lead lots of outstanding accounting research. I sincerely look forward to seeing and interacting with all my HARDI colleagues in the future.
Yifei Kuang, University of Waterloo
It has been a wonderful time at HARDI, and I would like to share some of my takeaways with you and future HARDI students. HARDI allows me to connect with top researchers in this profession and build friendships with fellow Ph.D. candidates. The seminars at HARDI are inspiring and highly relevant to my research interests.
Justin Kim, University of Florida
While this is a vast understatement, HARDI provides a wonderful opportunity for the participating Ph.D. students. In addition to the exposure and interactions with renowned faculty, I very much appreciate the interactions with fellow Ph.D. students. Especially given the HARDI committee’s careful selection process, all of the students were exceptionally brilliant, and also importantly, fun to be around! I treasure the time we all braved through the rigorous curriculum together. Here, I’d like to highlight that completing the HARDI program is a team effort– I learned not only from the faculty and the reading assignments but also from the insightful contributions of my cohort, in and outside of the classroom. I may have shared this sentiment before, but I would like to repeat myself for emphasis: I am confident that HARDI is the beginning of many long-lasting relationships as colleagues, co-authors, and friends.
Waqar Ali, INSEAD
The HARDI 2022 consortium was a fantastic opportunity to interact with faculty at the frontier of accounting research and to build lasting friendships with an amazing cohort of PhDs brought together from across the world. The faculty speakers oriented us to emerging research avenues and coached us meticulously on methodological approaches, idea generation, and the editorial process in general. Upon completion, I had a clear idea of how to upgrade my current projects and shape my future research endeavors. A special thank you to professors Hamid and Boochun – you’d be missed!
Stephanie Dong, New York University
Overall, HARDI was an intellectually stimulating, eventful, and rewarding experience. This was a great environment to interact with peers and faculty while also challenging myself academically. The faculty at UH Manoa was very welcoming and quickly made this place feel like home. I especially liked that the students all stayed near each other so it was easy to meet outside of class. By the end of the program, I felt that I had learned valuable research skills and formed many lifelong connections!
Shirley Jieuxan Wang, National University of Singapore
HARDI provided me with a splendid chance to grow and glow along with brilliant minds. The month-long program was intense but rewarding. The well-prepared courses and the stunning scenery intertwined to inspire new ideas and insights. I found sharings on the editorial process and the academic career outlook particularly enlightening. In between sessions, we were able to enjoy the beauty of Hawaii and learned more about the University of Hawaii. I was deeply touched by the hospitality at UH Manoa, with special thanks to Boochun and Hamid. As the saying goes, “a bosom friend afar brings a distant land near”, I believe the lifelong friendship fostered during the consortium will facilitate long-term collaborations and knowledge sharing.
Dimitris Kanelis, Lancaster University
HARDI provides a truly once-in-a-lifetime experience. The curriculum is rigorous, the speakers world-class, and the participating PhDs brilliant. Special thanks to the UH Manoa faculty for their lovely hospitality.
Russell (Jong Won) Han, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Through and through, I felt grateful to be a part of HARDI 2022, as the program provided me with a wonderful opportunity to grow as a young scholar. For me, the major highlight of HARDI 2022 was the people. This year, the invited students took classes from four renowned professors, including Eva Labro, Lisa Koonce, Christian Leuz, and Rodrigo Verdi. The invited faculty were, if I may say, outstanding and extremely generous with regard to sharing their expertise. Also, the small size of the invited student body allowed for an intimate setting where everyone quickly bonded. I am grateful to be able to say that I formed lifelong friendships with my 2022 cohort while on the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa’s beautiful campus. Further, I must thank Dr. Hamid Pourjalali and Dr. Boochun Jung for organizing such a wonderful event. For example, Hamid was so considerate as to help provide freshly brewed coffee for the students every morning before class, including Sundays! Oh, and in case the thought of having seminars on Sundays is worrying anyone, while the curriculum was intense, students had at least one rest day per week that could be used for enjoying the beautiful island of Oahu. As many of my peers have expressed, I strongly agree that HARDI provides Ph.D. students with a meaningful experience.
Annie Sunyoung Park, Seoul National University
The HARDI Program offered me the valuable opportunity of interacting with the most renowned scholars in the field of accounting. Meeting them in person and sharing their thoughts on topics of accounting will be an experience I’ll cherish for a long time. Another impressive point of the program was how it brought together Ph.D. students from various countries who have the same passion and affection for accounting research. I’d like to express my utmost gratitude to the faculty at UH Manoa for organizing such a meaningful and inspiring program.
Junhao Liu, University of Toronto
HARDI was a fantastic journey for me. I very much appreciate this opportunity to learn from well-established accounting scholars and connect with a group of brilliant Ph.D. students from all over the world. I really like the thoughtful discussions we had in class and strongly believe that the things I learned from HARDI will benefit me throughout my career. More importantly, the lifelong friendships with my incredible peers are invaluable, and I really hope that our roads will cross again in the future.
Erdong Wang, Rutgers University
To me, the HARDI program is an unforgettable memory of my life. We were warmly welcomed by the hosts and had a lot of fun memories here in Hawaii. The chance to connect to so many brilliant minds in academia and the excellent seminars given by the prominent professors are what make this program so valuable. I also feel lucky to know all the Ph.D. students here where our friendship was established in the beauty of Hawaii and will last long in the future. Most importantly, this program has given me a chance to put myself out of my comfort zone and scrutinize my own deficiencies in academic work so that I can find a better pattern to follow through in my future career.
Cameron Holstead, The University of Texas at Dallas
I am grateful to be a part of a fantastic program like HARDI. The hosts were immediately welcoming and helpful in many ways. The professors challenged but also encouraged us, and interacting with many renowned Ph.D. students is an experience I will never forget. I hope that one day, I have other opportunities to attend a program as insightful as HARDI.
Matthew Hinton, the University of Hawaii at Manoa
HARDI was such an amazing experience for me. The benefit of listening to lectures from top accounting scholars and interacting with them on a one-to-one basis – right here in Hawaii! – cannot be overstated. Sessions from professors in other areas will be particularly helpful as I can apply them to my research focus, giving me a new way to differentiate my work. HARDI also gave me the opportunity to become friends with future leaders of accounting research. I’m so grateful for getting to know everyone and look forward to staying in touch!