Exchange Diaries  

Hardhik Mohanty | Electrical Engineering

University of New Brunswick, Canada

Research Area: Intelligence-Driven Dark Web Detection and Characterization System

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

My FT was at the University of New Brunswick, Canada, and the topic was Intelligence-Driven Dark Web Detection and Characterization System.

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

FT is important if you want first-hand experience in academic research. By reading many research papers you can know what is currently the solution of a problem, this will help you identify if there is a future scope for research and possible application to its industry. This will help you make informed choices when you apply for your master’s or higher study program and the research topic you want to apply to. Also, it will give you LOR from a foreign professor. Also compared to Indian universities, professors were very systematic, they planned the whole procedure with a deadline and conduct weekly meetings and were systematic and would like you to complete work on deadline.

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

Research is mostly based on developing methodology and propose solutions, while corporate work is based on the final application of concepts. FT is mostly based on the academic research topic and get to build a methodology that comes before final product making, hence it is about theory and proposed solution behind that product.

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

If they want to go higher studies, having an internship helps a lot as it gives first-hand experience and one gets to know how the foreign lab works and professors plan research in the university. Also, you will get a letter of recommendation ( LOR ) so when for higher studies you need 3 LOR. You'll get strong LOR which will boost the application and is quite helpful. Also, you will get a certificate at the end which claims that you have background knowledge of the topic.

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

How I got this is from FTP by IR Cell, FTP which is organized by IR Cell provides more chance than MITACS and DAAD as competition is from the same college whereas the competition is from all over the world.
For documents, I would say SOP, CV, and Transcript. The Sop is well written and covers previous experience you have gone through and the research topic you're familiar with and how would you like to improve and how you would oppose a new solution and improve the already existing one. The CV should be well documented and points like education and skills and academic achievement and also extracurricular, all should be written pointwise as one finds it easy to select and review.

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

Because of FTP and IR Cell, I didn't have to mail. I applied for the project in January 2021 and waited for 1 month and the results were announced in February 2021.

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

I started applying for MITAC global link research internship that starts in August and after that, we have a DAAD scholarship that starts in October. Peak period like EPFL and summer internship and CMU for Robotics, those programs start their application process in January. By February, all application portals are closed. And got the project through FTP in February. So I started applying in August and go the offer in February.

What is the role of CGPA in the selection process?

CGPA does play a high role. All people have the same skillset so the only main criteria are previous experiences and CGPA. Having a good CGPA help professor to prefer you. A CGPA of around 8.5 is good enough for a good internship. Or if it is less you can improve skillset by getting online course and certificates and work more with professors. MITAC and DAAD have a strict CGPA cut off so it does help.

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

It did affect like many programs were closed last year and also several other applications were closed. Also, almost all programs were remote internships and there were hence fewer programs were there. The advantage is remote is easier to get offline and professors don’t pay for expenses. I observed they took a good number of students for research internships as they don't have to pay much. It does make your selection easy but opportunities are reduced.

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

They can read relevant research papers and articles, some papers are certified by professors who act as authors. For those authors search on the internet and go to their webpage and notice what they're working on. You can go on a good university website and find the list of professors under the desired department. For the application process, mainly it is mentioned in the portal itself what you require.

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

Read about research survey papers and research hot topics and articles and get an idea on what academic research is going about and having decided research topic they can work on background knowledge required and by doing several online courses through coursers and MIT, OCW and all those courses will help you get background knowledge and once you identify you can basically and go on and frame your SOP by writing what are the existing work that exist in the research topic and what is your view and how can you improve and that way you can build good sop. Make a list of programs you want to apply to before coming to the second year, they can be prepared also work on CGPA, 8-8.5 helps in programs like MITACS.

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

Yes definitely, you get to apply through IR Cell and MOU for IIT KGP. Usually, projects are floated are exclusively for IIT KGP students. Only students of IIT KGP applying for foreign projects and hence is beneficial.