Exchange Diaries  

Aryansh Singh | Humanities and Social Sciences

Harvard Business School, USA

Research Area: Innovation Sciences

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

I interned at Laboratory for Innovation Sciences at Harvard (LISH) at Harvard Business School under Dr. Ruiquing Cao who is a postdoctoral researcher. My topic is Innovation Sciences in the field of the Visual Art Ecosystem. We analyze recent developments and innovations in a particular field that can revolutionize the entire field. The fields of study here could be Crowdsourcing and Open Innovation, Data Science and Artificial Intelligence Development, Science of Science, Technology Commercialization, and Business of Sports.

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

Basically, there are a couple of differences between an FT and an Indian Internship. In my experience, I found the creativity and innovation aspects to be stronger which may be influenced by the topic of research. Professors at foreign universities have access to larger funds and also tend to explore the unexplored out-of-the-box areas. So, my entire project was based on something which was completely out of the books and there is very little research accessible on that particular topic. Furthermore, in my case, I felt that comparatively, my internship at IIM Kozhikode was more intense in regards to the number of hours required and the frequency of the meetings.

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

Firstly, in an FT you generally work in smaller teams compared to a corporate internship. My team consists of just me and my mentor. I have friends who are doing FT and their team consists of 5 or 6 people. On the contrary, during my corporate internship at the Government of India, I had exposure to at least ten members of my team. This means I had the opportunity to gain from multiple perspectives and also to cooperate with ten people which helped me become a better team player. There are more networking opportunities in corporate internships. Perhaps in an offline FT setup, one could have had an opportunity to interact with others working in the same laboratory.
Secondly, in corporate internships, you have to focus on the company’s product/service. In the majority of the roles, you would be developing or enhancing something related to their product and their services. But if we do academic training in a foreign institute so basically it is something related to research, so we can delve into unexplored fields and things which are not so common, so that just gives you a lot of space to think about new stuff.

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

The paper which we will work on together will likely land in a top-quality journal as a publication by the time I graduate, which will be a very good signal if I decide to apply for business school Ph.D. programs in the US. My mentor also said she’d be happy to be a source of information about navigating graduate school, or offer any suggestions related to academia and research. Therefore, having a reputed researcher as your mentor, can help you a lot in your higher studies process. Doing an FT, can help you create meaningful connections and catalyze your higher studies process positively.

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

In my case, I did not land the internship via regular internship programs. I got it through mailing. I was going through a research paper on entrepreneurship from Harvard Business Review, which was titled Biased Sampling of Early Product Users. It was a pretty intriguing paper and I thought, ``How can someone think about this field, that it’s very creative’’. I believe that was the aspect that inspired me and I just dropped an email to all the four authors of the paper. I mentioned my intention to work on the project and my past experience. So, there was a fit with one of the professors and we had overlapping research interests. Eventually, I got the opportunity. They wanted my Resume and LOR from my previous internships besides that there was a coding task. This was followed by some discussion on the projects and my skill set and eventually she extended the opportunity to work under her.

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

In my case, the majority of the work can be done through programming and largely it was internet-based research so we did not get too affected. But an offline setup would have aided a better exchange of ideas. Besides that inability to access the laboratory can sometimes be a hindrance if one needs to access some tools or software which are licensed and not easily available otherwise.

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

Yes, I mailed the professor and waited for 2-3 days. The essential aspect is that though all of us drop a mail but we often forget to follow up. It was after the follow-up mail that I got a response from her. I guess it also shows that you are serious about the prospects of working with them.

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

Some internship programs for instance MITACS and UARE have deadlines around August/September. But if you are applying individually to professors in your area of interest then you could start reading relevant research papers around December and eventually start mailing from January. Personally, I started applying in mid-January and had my offer by the second week of February.

What is the role of CGPA in the selection process?

In my case CGPA was not very relevant. I had an 8+ CGPA, but what was relevant was my interest in the topic of the research. If you check my profile and my mentor's profile you will find that a lot of keywords in our resumes are matching. Thus, in my case, the mutual fit was a more important and impactful aspect than the CGPA.

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

My project was related to an online marketplace. Due to the pandemic, the proportion of online marketplace transactions has increased thus we have a richer data collection.

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

I believe that exploration is the key here. I think that we should try out whatever interests us whether it is finance, machine learning, open-source, or any unconventional field. I myself had a brief study into subjects like Game Theory, Computer Vision, Supply Chains in order to decide which field I wanted to focus on.
Once you figure out a set of fields you want to work in you can look for professors working in the same field through university websites or through published research papers. Luckily, I have found that there are research groups on a wide diaspora of research fields at institutions like Harvard, Yale, Stanford, London Business School, etc.

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

Till my first year, I had a somewhat below average CGPA and no experience in any kind of project whatsoever. It was during my 13th month of being a KGPianI realized that I had to start looking for internships not only to start exploring different career options. The process was tough as I had no prior experience. I was looking for a research intern and I didn’t know much about programming languages at that time. Subsequently, I did a research internship at IIM Kozhikode. Having skills in Stata, Excel, or Python can help your application. IITians have a good reputation globally especially for helping professors with research work in technical aspects. I believe it is the toughest to get started. Beyond that, every step you take will add up weight to your application for your next application.

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

There are so many positives of belonging to IIT Kharagpur, especially in academia-related matters. Even mailing from your IIT KGP domain adds credibility to your application. Thanks to the notable alumni and our distinguished professors who have done exemplary work in diverse academic fields. Furthermore, IIT KGP is recognized globally owing to great milestones achieved by our alumni like Sundar Pichai. Even at Harvard, people recognize IIT KGP as a reputed educational institution. Thus, I strongly believe that being a student at IIT Kharagpur helps you in more than one way.