Exchange Diaries  

Apoorva Vashisth | Mechanical Engineering

National University of Singapore, Singapore

Research Area: Control Systems

What was the University and topic of research that was taken up by you during the FT?

I interned at the National University of Singapore under the Mechanical Engineering Department in the field of Control Systems. The title of my project is Guaranteed Capture for Indoor Pursuit-Evasion with limited Field of View.

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

Foreign Training is important if you aim for higher studies. Getting exposure to the culture and work experience helps boost your application. Also, you can decide if you want to apply to that university or not based on your experience during the internship.
I had undertaken research at the institute laboratory as a 2nd and 3rd-year student and since I was not very familiar with the field at that time, the mode was more instructive than exploratory, but since I took a good amount of research experience (via institute projects) towards my FT application, the mode has largely been exploratory than instructive.

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

Currently, I am exploring all my options, I also have a Managerial type of CDC Internship. I want to experience both corporate as well as a research internship so that I can weigh my options and decide what career path I decide to take after completing my degree here.
The advantages of FT are that you get exposure to various other universities and how they work, the culture of the place where the University is located, and also the research facility. It is a whole new experience to interact and collaborate with foreign nationals, get exposure to their work culture, and undertake research at their facility. My university connected us through Zoom calls to show us the equipment at their lab.

Should BTech students aspiring for higher studies from abroad opt for an FT?

It depends if they want to go for higher studies or not because having an FT on your resume while you are applying for MS/Ph.D. Programs help boost your application. Also, you get to experience and then decide for yourself if you should apply to that university/laboratory or not. Since you get to work in that lab, you get associated with it for 6 months or 3 months so you have enough experience and can make informed decisions.

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

I got my FT through personally mailing the professor. So, it wasn’t like the CDC process, where I have to provide Certificates of my projects. Although what would help here is if you have taken up any previous project then you embed a link to a drive folder containing your code, results, and videos from your previous projects. Besides that, draft your mail properly, do background research on the work undertaken by the professor and the lab you are going to apply for. You should try to find parallels between the work that you have already done (i.e. your research interest) and the work currently being undertaken at the lab under the professor. For evaluating prospects that you might have in this lab I would suggest going through Google Scholar or ResearchGate Profiles of the professor to know their research indices, past work, and what they are currently working on.
Afterwards, and if you get a positive response from the professor, they may give you a task to complete first (it depends on the field you’re applying for but I was given the task of going through their previous research work and drafting a problem statement for improving it). After evaluating your submission, a video conference will be arranged depending on the Professor’s decision to work out the logistics and finer details of your internship.

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

No, not much, as even in the offline mode you first mail the professor and if they agree to take you as an intern then they arrange a Zoom meeting to discuss the details. The only and most drastic change in online mode is the mode of working as it's completely online, and you don’t get to visit the research facility in person.

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

It didn’t take much time. I received a reply within a day for my first email to the Professor I’m currently working for. Subsequently, it was back and forth according to the time zones.

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

I started applying at the beginning of June and I divided the work actually, so I used to collect information about the research work and read papers of the professor on every page I could find them on. LinkedIn doesn’t help in Research Projects, you would want to go through Google Scholar, and then ResearchGate (sometimes you can’t find the Professor on Google Scholar, then ResearchGate helps). After this, I drafted my email, firstly introducing myself, what I found common between Professor’s research work and the previous works I have done that made me a suitable candidate to be interning at his/her lab, and then my expectations and aim for applying for a foreign internship. I sent my mail according to the professor’s time zone. From what I learned from my peers, it's best to mail at 2 PM in the professor’s time zone. After that, I waited for at least 2 days to get a response to my emails before sending follow-ups and applying to labs in other universities.

What is the role of CGPA in the selection process?

I think having a CGPA of more than 8.5 helps if you’re applying for a field that is related to your core engineering. But I’d say that it's equally as important as your previous work experience in that field. Previous projects you have done, any publications you have, and any LoR you’d like to provide to boost your chances of getting a positive response.

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

Each lab at a university has its own website. Also, when you start looking for a professor you first go to the university website, then the department website, and then the professor’s website, where you will find the link to his/her lab, links to his/her CV, current and previous projects, and his/her research interests. That’s where you should start and from there if you find that you have done work previously that is aligned with that professor’s research interest and you can contribute to his lab, then you should go to his/her Google Scholar and ResearchGate page to get into details. Then you can make a better-informed decision if you are a suitable candidate for that university/lab/professor or not.

How should a first-year student prepare beforehand for his FT application in their subsequent year?

In the first year, if you are completely sure that you want to go into a specific field, then what I think helps is to first take projects in that field in the institute itself to gain some experience. You can also do some self-projects, make sure it adds some value to your resume. Besides that, participating in competitions also helps. In my case, I did a competition related to Robotics and after it ended, I converted it into a self-project, i.e. kept working on a modified version of that problem statement only. And that work created a common bridge between the lab’s research interest and mine leading to a positive response.

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

It certainly makes your application more notable because IITs are a known brand among institutes worldwide. So, it helps if you are a student of IIT Kharagpur.