We spoke to Gauri, currently a third-year undergraduate student at Miranda House College, University of Delhi. She worked at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, California., under the highly competitive Summer Undergraduate Research Project Programme. Her ten-week-long internship was primarily focused on high-energy astrophysics. Read about the application process and her experience at CALTECH below!
Sucheta Shandilya and Srotoshi Ghosh
On Eligibility
Any STEM undergraduate student studying in the first and second year of their course in India is eligible to apply for this programme. At the time of application, the student must not be in their last year of the course.
On The Application Process
Gauri came to know about this particular internship by looking up interesting internship programmes abroad. She came across the announcement at the opportunities page of SURP on the CALTECH website. The university puts up opportunities in January, but according to Gauri, that's a very late way to find out about the projects.
On the AO page, there are opportunities and projects and the corresponding people to contact. Moreover, the page lists what each project is about, and the prerequisites for participating as an intern. Gauri had mailed the researchers about her interest and if they could interview her.
Her research group received around 60 emails from interested students. Among the 60 candidates, 5 to 6 were ultimately selected. There was a total of 10 people who were taken as interns in her group and the ones who weren't selected from interested emails were there because of personal contacts. For everyone who emailed, the interview was conducted in two rounds. The first round was through a Google form. Those shortlisted via Google forms were interviewed by the mentors. The interviewees were given ten projects to rank and the mentor from the project that Gauri chose as her highest preference was her interviewer.
Gauri received an email a week after she got selected, following which, she had to fill in the application form and make a research proposal with help from her mentor. If the mentor says yes, filling out the application is simply a formality. The application needed three letters of recommendation, a couple of essays, and general demographic details. On submission of the form, CALTECH authorities sent a confirmation about her selection. Gauri said that the process of obtaining a temporary visa and preparing for the internship following the confirmation to be a non-complicated process.
Key Takeaways From The Internship
Gauri learnt essential networking skills. She met a lot of different people from different parts of the world with vastly different backgrounds. She was particularly impressed by a programme called 'Brave Spaces' where members belonging to minority groups could interact freely. She enjoyed the inclusive environment for women, members of the LGBTQIA+ community, BIPOC and Hispanics in STEM.
There were several sessions on statement of purpose writing and other scientific writing and emailing professors (formal communications). Gauri enjoyed the hands-on experience of operating the state-of-the-art telescope at the Mount Palomar Observatory in California. She also recounts her occasional sightseeing experiences with a smile on her face!
On Her Mentor
Gauri had a nice, supportive and welcoming mentor. Her mentor was very considerate and helped her learn new things including data analysis, scientific writing, and coding. Gauri was able to gain knowledge of how astrophysical data works. Gauri had one mentor who was a research scientist and supervised her progress directly, providing a lot of constructive criticism regularly. Her mentor invested time in her and also helped her pen proposals and reports.
Essential Skills To Have For This Internship
Gauri felt that a base in coding was essential. She understood that she still had a lot to learn. The internship taught her patience and that complex processes take time. Gauri felt that her background in physics and her enthusiasm for reading astrophysics and astronomy matter helped her to a certain extent. However, she acknowledges the gap in the observational and analytical aspects in her studies so far.
How This Internship Will Help Gauri In Her Future Career
Gauri is interested in research, so her experience convinced her to pursue observational astronomy and high-energy astrophysics. Her experience in a work atmosphere will also help her in the future. She developed essential coding skills. Gauri gained networking skills and skills in communicating her science in general.
Skills to have
She says that It is crucial to have skills specific to physics/astrophysics and strong coding skills, especially in Python. Gauri’s proficiency in MATLAB/Scilab made her internship assignments much easier. Gauri suggests that the interview should be used as an opportunity to ask questions, and that not doing so may potentially leave a negative impact.
Final Remarks
Gauri recommends people to participate in the programme as it is a great opportunity for skill development. Such an experience can help students to polish their writing skills, networking skills, research skills, etc.
Students looking to apply must be very meticulous while emailing professors. They must be well-acquainted with the professors’ work before drafting emails. It might also be worthwhile to write to post-doctoral fellows when looking for summer internships.