Research Internships
Name: Harshda Saxena
Field of Internship: Theoretical cosmology
Name of the University: Heidelberg University
How did you get the internship?: PT Cell
Please provide a brief description of your interview:
It was mostly a casual conversation, he asked which fields in the formalism they were working on I was interested in, and then we talked a bit about some papers I
had read from their previous work
How was your overall experience? Any pieces of advice for the juniors who are aiming for research internships?:
It was amazing! The group is super super nice and helpful, we got a lot of new research done, and the prof is very helpful and supportive.
Name: Shashwat Chakraborty
Field of Internship: Theoretical Condensed Matter Physics
Name of the University: Californian Institute of Technology (Caltech)
How did you get the internship?:External Apping (Summer Undergraduate Research Program)
Please provide a brief description of your interview:
My interview was more like an informal chitchat. The Prof talked about his group's research and asked me about my research experience and slid in a couple of technical questions here and there.
How was your overall experience? Any pieces of advice for the juniors who are aiming for research internships?:
My experience at Caltech was pretty good. My Faculty mentor (Prof. Marco Bernardi), Graduate mentor, and Postdoc mentor were all very kind and helpful. I worked on "First Principles Calculation of Spin Spectra of Magnetic Systems." My only advice for the juniors is to start apping early (like in mid-September) and trust the process. You may not get any positive responses initially but don't lose hope and keep going, as sometimes it may take as many as 100 emails to get one positive response.
Name: Adhyyan
Field of Internship: Research in Atomic and Molecular Physics
Name of the University: Tata institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai
How did you get the internship?: External apping
Please provide a brief description of your interview:
Just a discussion of possible projects and interest
How was your overall experience? Any pieces of advice for the juniors who are aiming for research internships?:
It was great to learn from the PhDs, prefer labs with multiple PhDs working on different projects and it'll give you an idea of multiple projects. interaction with profs can become limited depending on their involvement in the daily lab activities but discussions were always fruitful. Keep your options open and do not be dismissive of opportunities, even if something isn't 100% aligning with your interest working on a project with good people will always be very helpful to your personally and professionally.
Name: Devashish Shah
Field of Internship: Spin Qubits in Germanium
Name of the University:Institute of Science and Technology, Austria
How did you get the internship?: External Apping
Please provide a brief description of your interview:
My interview started with a brief discussion about my research experience at IIT Bombay. We then talked about what the group was working on at the time, and what I would likely work on during my internship.
How was your overall experience? Any pieces of advice for the juniors who are aiming for research internships?:
The research being done by the group was really interesting, and was a lot more diverse than what I expected initially. It was a really nice to experience to interact with people from different universities in Europe and to work in a new research environment. For external apping, try to write a short mails which highlight your relevant research experience well, and restrict other projects, etc. to your CV. Also, go through the group's research and write why you'd like to work with them briefly.