Exchange Diaries  

Arjav Rastogi | Chemical Engineering

University of Edinburgh, Scotland

Research Area: Machine Learning

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

The University was University of Edinburgh, and the research topic was Feature selection in a kernel-free non linear SVM. This was a joint project between IIT Kharagpur and the University of Edinburgh.

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

I wasn't able to go to the University as my Foreign Training was remote. The professor under whom I was working provided me with a lot of independence, in fact even the topic of research was picked up by me. In the case of Indian Universities, the professor names the topic and you work over it whether you like it or not.

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

The difference lies in the culture that the work happens in. For a corporate internship, there is a fixed deadline and specified list of tasks that must be completed with the given constraints. Whereas in the project taken up by me, there wasn’t any hard deadline and fixed tasks, the research was independently done only under the supervision of the professor. This adds to the independence one receives on these projects.

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

Yes, definitely. If you are going for higher studies, it really helps if you have an experience with the culture over there as there are vast differences between the culture there and what we have in the National Institutes.

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

Generally the application process is through the Foreign Training Portal, but I couldn't receive a project from the portal. In my case, a friend of mine recommended me to the professor. I mailed him and we had an interview where he asked me questions regarding the project field.

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

I am not really aware about the process in offline mode, but I think the application and mailing would be more robust as we could make a comprehensive mailing list of a larger number of professors from our respective domains.

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

In my case, since my friend recommended me to the professor, I didn’t have to mail for the project. For a general case I would suggest that the student mails professors regularly and registers on the FT Portal to bag a project in their choice of domain.

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

The general scenario is that 2nd year B.Tech. and 3rd year Dual Degree students apply for FT, but many of the sophomores do not possess the necessary experience to bag a research project. So my suggestion would be to start applying for the FT as soon as you have completed at latest one national project.

What is the role of CGPA in the selection process?

My experience with the FTP says that the CGPA doesn’t really matter much in the case of individual projects as the professors shortlist on the basis of the CV and the student’s past experiences. CGPA does matter when you go for scholarship programs like MITACS.

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

There weren't any positive effects other than the fact that you didn’t have to spend any money for doing the project.

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

You need to first focus on gaining the relevant skills by completing courses, and then you can make a database of professors whose research interests match with yours and start mailing them. Start by searching professors from the top 50 universities for your database. It is preferred to have a larger data set for the professors as they seldom reply to these mails.

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

If you are trying to get a FT in Core, it isn’t possible from your first year as the core subjects start from the second year.

When it comes to non-core, most of the first year students are uninitiated in the field of Computer Science, so they must look at different domains and try to gain the relevant skills in the time they have. After doing that try and take up at least one national project to show that you have research interests in the field.

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

I think it does have an impact. The IIT brand does stand out when it comes to professors from the International Universities, which helps us gain responses from them.