Undergraduate research internships part 2 — the hunt
The first article, linked here, talks about the mindset behind a research internship and the entire process of identifying your niche. Although the article is written in a general tone, it is important to emphasise that every individual has their own process of identifying their niche and it's okay to take your own sweet time. During your time as an undergraduate or a graduate student, you might come across people who seem to have figured everything out early on. The key is to focus on your next steps and keep the comparisons at bay.
Now that we have addressed that, let's get down to business. You are sure of pursuing a research internship but haven’t a clue about where to start. Broadly classifying, you have four possible roads ahead of you:
Home university: Perhaps among the easier options out there. Asking a professor from your university if you can spend the summer working under them has a higher chance of success than other options out there. It is perhaps because you have previously taken a class under them, worked with them during the normal semester/quarter, or simply because they are willing to take a chance with a student from their own university over someone applying from a different university. If your research interests happen to align with that of a particular prof, do not hesitate to ask them for a summer opportunity.
Off-campus university/institution: If you do not find professors/researchers who align with your interests at your home university or simply want to experience research outside your university, you can try applying to off-campus institutions. This is the absolute opposite of the situation described in the last point. Whoever you apply to will have to take a chance in giving you an internship. Not to forget all the administrative and visa (if you’re applying abroad) formalities that add to the problem, thus making this option highly competitive. One of the ways to increase your chances is to get a professor on campus to connect you with their collaborators/colleagues in other institutions and help you secure an opportunity. However, for this to happen, you need to be connected to these professors well enough that they recommend you to one of their colleagues (sending us straight back to the first instalment of this series). This route entails a lot of cold mailing, a topic we will cover extensively in the upcoming articles.
Whoever you apply to will have to take a chance in giving you an internship
Summer research programs/fellowships: Over the last few decades, several universities and research establishments have come up with summer undergraduate research fellowships (SURF) programs to provide structure to the concept of summer research internships. These programs go by different names and often have different sets of entry requirements and durations. In general, you are looking at a 10–12 week internship, which is usually paid for by the university, to be pursued between May and August. There exist two broad classifications among these programs too — ones that connect you to potential advisors after you are accepted into their program, and the others that fund, provided you have already been accepted for an internship at a laboratory. This repository has links to a bunch of summer internship programs you can apply to.
Note: The above repository is not exhaustive. The best way to find about existing programs in your field of interest is by conducting a thorough google search or by going through the websites of the institutions you want to work at.
Since these programs are funded, they are more competitive than the above two options. Some of these programs pre-filter your applications based on your GPA (or CGPA). In addition to that, some of the other application materials include essays and/or statements of purpose, transcripts, and Letters of Recommendation (LORs). LORs are usually written by professors or other academicians that you have previously worked with. Some of these programs are only open to students in their pre-final year, so make sure you check the eligibility beforehand. That being said, apply only if you meet all their application requirements. I personally never applied to these programs because my grades were not good enough to have a good shot at any of these programs. Being a recipient of one of these fellowships is a great addition to your CV.
Tip: Make sure you contact the international programs and collaborations office at your university to enquire if your university has specific Memoranda of Understanding (MOUs) with other universities abroad. This particularly helps because some of these MOUs result in research exchange programs where your university might send you to research at one of their partner universities. This gives you an advantage because you will only be competing amongst a small pool of students from your own university for the opportunity. The UTokyo-IIT program is one such example.
Tip: A good way to go about these programs would be to connect with seniors who were a part of these programs in the last few years. They can better inform you about the application process and how to avoid the simplest of mistakes while compiling an application.
Corporate research labs: While research is primarily done at universities and research institutions, quite a few corporate entities have an R&D wing too. They are mostly set up to explore new technologies which the said company in question can eventually employ. These establishments provide a good taste of R&D in the industry. Some examples include Bosch Research, Mercedez Benz R&D, Amazon Science, Microsoft Research, and X. The minimum qualifications vary from company to company. A good way to go about applying is by compiling a list of places you want to apply to, and then mailing people responsible for internships and university hiring programs. You can also connect with them on Linkedin if you fail to find an email ID.
This should give you a brief idea of what option you might want to go ahead with. You can also apply to a combination of these options, but that would also mean spending more time organising your application and doing the necessary. A lot of blogs out there talk about fellowship programs and how one should apply to them. Cold mailing is a subject that is usually not covered in-depth. I plan to cover it in detail in the upcoming articles. You can find the next article here.
If you have any questions or wish to discuss the content, you can reach out to me on Linkedin.
The content here is a reflection of my process of applying to research internships and my undergraduate thesis. I suggest you also converse with other people and get to know their process as well. If a technique different from the stuff mentioned here works for you, I suggest you stick to that. All the best!