Exchange Diaries  

Arpita Sahoo | Biotechnology

University of Zurich, Switzerland

While you were in college, what was your motivation to go for higher studies and in which year did you get
that motivation?
Since my school time, I always used to get excited whenever I got to know a new concept. I have always
been curious to learn new concepts. I always used to ask questions whenever I learned a new concept
and tried to find answers to them. That is something that has always motivated me to pursue a career in
science. This inclination to go to research is not just from my college 1st year but rather started in my
11th and 12th grade. During college, in my first year, I did not know all the options. My first year went by
exploring different options and the career pathways in research. By the end of the first year, I realized that
I wanted to pursue a career in research in this field. I loved the department of Biotechnology throughout
my life. It was already there in me that I want to pursue a career in research within life science. By the
beginning of my second year, I was very sure that I wanted to pursue a Ph.D.
How did you manage your academics with your preparation?
I always wanted to explore new things, so I never thought that academics was a burden for me. I started
taking up projects when I was in my second year of college and it was a good experience managing
academics with the additional projects I took up. Apart from that, I did a couple of summer internships
and winter internships. It was never a problem to manage academics and research. One thing which I
would say is that I had to set a bit back on my extracurriculars. During my first year, I was involved in quite
a lot of extracurricular activities. But, in the second year when I started taking up projects, I needed to
manage them along with academics. So, I had to reduce my extracurriculars to get into researching and
the preparation for the application process.
What are the factors that you considered for selecting the universities you are going to apply for?
Firstly, I looked up the QS Ranking Chart for my department (subject-wise QS Ranks), and I considered
that for my initial selection. I thought that if I am going for higher studies at a different University, it should
be better than my current University. IIT KGP has a ranking of 200 something. So, I targeted the
universities that had a ranking below 100. That was my first criteria to filter out Universities. And then by
location, I always thought that I should apply to the US and some places in Europe. So, I chose
Universities in that way. Mostly, universities in the US, three in Switzerland, and one in Germany. There
was this whole procedure of filtering out universities. I started with 50, added it down to 20, and finally
applied to 12 of them.
Can you please elaborate on the differences in the selection process of the universities you applied to?

In the application portal of US Universities, you will submit all your documents, and based on that they call
you for an interview and the interviews are quite chill. Once you get selected for the interview round, they
will judge you based on your personality. It is not usually a technical interview.
In the European Universities, I have applied to the Universities in Switzerland and Germany. In these two
places, and technically in any other place in Europe, if you apply, the application is of a similar process,
but when you are selected for the interview, you need to give a presentation of your most recent project.
So, I had to explain my Masters' thesis to them. And based on that they will do another round of
screening. Following that, we will have a one-to-one interview with the potential supervisors. It is slightly
different but exciting.
In universities in which you were not selected can you please share what you felt you lacked, and what
could you have done better?
I have applied to 12-13 universities. I have got interview calls from 6 and I got offers from 4 and another
interview is still remaining. It is like 50% turnover. In most of the universities we usually apply for, we don't
get selected. The screening process is really stringent.
When we apply to Universities, we have these criteria of “Ambitious Universities” and “Achievable
Universities”. “Ambitious Universities” are often hard to get, and that is why they are ambitious. And
sometimes, that also happens that the Universities which you think will definitely accept you, might not
accept you. All these things happen throughout the process and are just a part of the whole thing.
I think since I applied to Ph.D. positions, it’s important to have a strong research profile, which I think I
had. But, for me, I had a few publications. People who get into ambitious universities have a lot of big
publications in big journals, which I think I lacked. And, I think covid is one reason for that because, over
the last two years, the research has been very slow and difficult to do. That is something that did not
allow me to publish well. I don’t have any regrets nor do I feel bad about it now.
How are you planning to manage your finances? Have you applied for any scholarships? What were their
procedures?
Already the programs to which I applied had secure funding. I did not apply to any programs which would
not guarantee to fund. The funding will support me throughout my Ph.D. program. For the US programs,
the funding generally lasts 5 to 6 years and they have complete funding for that. The European
Universities which I applied for, have funding for 4 years. Mostly the students finish their Ph.D. in 4 years.
So, funding is not an issue for me.
Is CGPA a factor while considering higher studies at foreign universities?
Yes, definitely. I am the DR 1 of my department and my CGPA is around 9.23. And I think that really helped
me to get into the Universities which I got. I know a couple of people who applied to the same places as I
did and they didn’t get through because of their CGPA. I won’t say that it is the only factor that would let
you out. If you have a low CGPA but a great research profile with amazing publications, you will definitely
get through as they value research more than CGPA. But, still, CGPA is one of the metrics for them to filter
out students. Having a good CGPA definitely helps. But I won’t say that if you don’t have a good CGPA you
will not get through. It is fine both ways.

Have you taken up any research project at your bachelor/master's level under any professor here at IIT
KGP? How did you manage your college studies and worked for your research?
I have started taking up my research projects on bioscience in my second year and a few mini-projects. I
did a few internships. I did my bachelor’s thesis at the School of Medical Science.
I did my first internship at AIIMS Delhi during the winter of 2nd year. I had my initial training at the Malaria
Lab at AIIMS Delhi.
The next summer, I worked as an intern at the pathogenesis lab at IISc Bangalore for two months.
Though I had offers for a summer internship, I worked on my bachelor's thesis in Summer. I didn’t do any
additional internships then.
My last internship was at Max Planck in Germany
What were the other difficulties you faced on taking this path and how to overcome them?
The main difficulty I faced was due to covid. The opportunities I could have were lost due to covid. Mainly,
biotechnology being an experimental field, staying at home limited my opportunities.
Also during the application process, if we are surrounded by the people who are applying to different
Universities like me, it would help a lot as we would know their processes and all much more efficiently.
Though we could have online meets, being offline could have made a lot of difference.
How did IIT KGP benefit you in your journey?
IIT KGP is a premier institution that people across the world recognize. Hailing from IIT KGP makes a lot
of difference during the application process. The alumni of IIT KGP are present in various universities
across the world, which helps a lot. The tag of IIT also helps a lot.
What are the opportunities after the Ph.D. course?
There will be many opportunities after the completion of a Ph.D. Many people go for a position in an
industry or switch to policymaking and few for further research. After Ph.D. I would like to go for
post-doctoral research and later I will try to apply for a professorship position at Universities.
What are the suggestions that you would give your juniors who want to pursue higher studies? Could you
please give a rough roadmap to ease their journey?
1. Start as early as you can as the idea of starting early helped me a lot
2. Nothing is ever late
3. Explore different options
4. Explore the sub regimes of your branch and find out which one interests you the most.
5. Don’t be afraid to fall down and fail. It is always a part of the process.
6. Don’t be shy to interact with seniors and alumni. The interactions help a lot.

During the first year, you need to find out whether you are interested in research, or in the core department
or in any other field. As you are new to college, you also need to experience college life keeping in mind
that academics and career are really important.