Exchange Diaries  

Animesh Awasthi | Biotechnology

University of Tokyo, Japan

Research Area: Computational biology and medical sciences

Why is an FT important? How would one compare research in Indian universities and foreign universities?

Foreign internships are important. There might be primarily two reasons:

Funding in foreign Universities is very good. Like say you have an idea you want to perceive but you will find it difficult to get funding in Indian Colleges whereas in Foreign they promote research and they will easily give you funding.

It is a very good experience if anybody does a foreign Internship.

FT vs corporate internship, what are all the things we are missing out on and what are we gaining more?

First of all, it depends on what you want to perceive. Say you anyone is fascinated about further studies or having an interest in a particular topic and want to explore more about it then research internship are perfect for them and considering foreign application like Ph.D. and Ms application in the US or any foreign Universities they highly value Foreign Internship especially FTP and it gives good value addition to your profile in general. So, this is one reason to choose Foreign Internship over a Corporate Internship. Foreign Internships are useful but at the same time, you must be sure that you want to go to research and not in any corporate firm.
The major difference between FT and corporate internship is incorporate you are going to work in fixed hours under a manager, you will be given a fixed task. Usually, corporate interns do not have much freedom; they have their norms. One thing is that in India corporate internships pay you a stipend but in India, research internships will not pay you a stipend there are few colleges like IAS(Indian Academy of Science) that give you a stipend which is very rare and the stipend is also very less on the contrary Corporate Internship gives you a good stipend which is a good motivation to work.

What exactly is the application process for the FT? Are there any important documents one must keep?

There are two methods of application:
One is through cold mailing in which you required essentially two documents one is the cover letter
which describes why you are motivated towards this research, why are you applying for the project, what are your experiences and 2nd document is a CV and just mailed it to whichever professor you like.

The second one is to apply through programs. The important documents required are one official academic transcript which one can get through ERP. Then CV and then you will need the official a letter stating that English is the official language of your university.

How did the process get affected due to the online nature of the applications?

This year, there are a lot of projects open to various departments. So, let's say there are 50 projects that 25 will be opened for only foreign students, and for the remaining 25 projects, there are more than 1400 students who applied for the same. So we can say that the application process was more challenging compared to previous years.

Did you have to mail the professor personally for the project? For how much time did you wait for a reply?

Yes! I have to mail the professor personally. It depends on the professor, usually what happens if the professor is interested he will reply to your mail in 2-3 days. And if you send an email to an old professor who has been working in the field for more than 20-30 years then you can wait for more than a week. But the general procedure should be like you send a mail, wait for 2-3 days then send a follow-up mail, at least 2 follow up mail in the gap of 2-3 days if you don't get a reply.

When should one start applying for an FT? How long did the procedure last till you got the desired FT?

First of all during the first year no need to worry about the FT. Just focus on academics and try to maintain a good CG because CG matters a lot in FT. And during 2nd year just explore the core branch and cover most of the fundamentals. And after the 2nd year ends go for the research internship in India itself there are a lot of good universities in India like IISC Bangalore, IISER, etc.

And during the 3rd year go for FT if you had a really good experience in the 2nd year. And then also it depends if you are in the 4-year course then go for FT in 3rd year and if you are in the 5-year course then also you can go for FT in 3rd or 4th year also.

What is the role of CGPA in the selection process?

First of all, it varies from department to department but you must have at least 8.5+ CGPA because the professor sorts all the applications based on CGPA and then takes the first 15-20 applications and then decides whether to give it or not.

How did the pandemic affect your application for the project? Did the pandemic have any positive impact on the project?

There is one positive impact. Nowadays anyone can apply at any university and usually, professors are willing to give projects. On the bright side, you can say many people now have foreign Internships, foreign research experience due to the online mode.

The second advantage would be people now are more focused on computational method development as well as implementing them. It is really helpful and people realize the importance of it more. And there is one more advantage is the flexibility of timing. You can work anytime you want, you don't have to worry about classes, being there physically also you can do multiple projects at the same time.

Where should a student, who is unaware of the entire application process, look up information about professors and their research work for opportunities?

Your first point of contact should be your seniors, especially those seniors who have worked in the research field. Secondly, usually, seniors who applied have a sheet in which they write the details of all the programs along with the deadline. You can ask for such sheets or at least the name of the program. Personally visit their website and looked for the application process. And then there are few articles on the website of Ir cell which you can refer to. And then there are many blogs on the internet which are very helpful.

Does belonging to IITKGP provide any added benefits for getting your FT?

In my case, I was in the UTSIP Kashiwa program and there are 15 students throughout the world from Harvard University to the University of Cambridge everywhere. And out of those 15 students, 4 were Indians and out of 4 Indians, 3 were IIT. Now you can imagine one-fifth of the whole world is represented by IIT and that is one really good advantage that has been into IIT Kharagpur. And the reason is that in Japan they value IIT. They know that students who have been in IIT come through a lot of competition. And because of that, they might relax you on the CG side as well. So that is one advantage of the brand value of IIT. The best thing about IIT Kharagpur is that it has a lot of departments, a lot of scope of research. This gives the added benefit that you have a lot of fields to explore. And the added benefit is our alumni because our alumni are everywhere. Like in the USA everybody knows Sundar Pichai and they know he is from IIT.