The material on this page is intended to supplement the feature on summer internships on pages 4 and 5 of InsIghT issue 11.1.
Indian Research Internship
Aishwarya Ramakrishnan, MEMS Department, Third Year
Place of Internship: BARC, Mumbai
I applied for the Summer Research Fellowship Programme 2008 offered by the Indian Academy of Sciences (IASc), Indian National Science Academy (INSA) and National Academy of Sciences, India (NASI) in December 2007 (For details, go to www.ias.ac.in). In March 2008, I was informed that I had received the Summer Research Fellowship at Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC), Mumbai.
At BARC, there are over a hundred divisions and I worked in the Materials Science Division. There are many Scientific Officers each working on a different project related to nuclear research. The experience at BARC was enlightening in terms of giving me a flavour of what research is about. As no laptops or cell phones were allowed inside the high security research centre, I would only read papers and perform experiments all day long with maximum productivity. The experimental facilities were good and the staff was very helpful. My work at BARC exposed me to various experimental techniques as well as theoretical research.
The Scientific Officers at BARC have close ties with IIT Bombay as a lot of experiments are done in collaboration with the Physics and Materials Science Departments at IIT. A part of my experimental work was in fact performed in the Physics Department at IIT Bombay.
At the end of my second year, after having done a variety of introductory courses, I went to BARC and after two months there, my eyes opened up to the various possibilities of research in my department.
Foreign Industrial Internship
Gautam Salhotra, Mechanical Department, Fourth Year
Place of Internship: Siemens Transportation Systems, Sacramento, California, USA
As an intern in a company abroad, I did not know what to expect in terms of workload, holidays and so on. However, when I started working at Siemens, I realised that they take their internships very seriously. I was given a good deal of work on many of their projects, some on the customer warranty side, and some on their current projects. Most of my work was designing, and was very challenging. Their work atmosphere is very comfortable, and the timings are not rigid, although you are expected to work the usual 8 hours on weekdays, something that’s not always much of a concern in a university internship. Here are a few tips you might find useful:
Companies accepting interns from abroad are generally very big, and have a lot of applications for an internship. Make sure your application gets the attention it deserves.
Formalities take a lot of time, especially in a company. Also, if applying to the US, a visa application will take much longer than a Schengen/Swiss visa. Keep a good margin for this. Book your tickets early for better prices.
Travelling on weekends can be a great relief from work, but you have to keep an eye on your wallet. Make sure you have your student ID with you wherever you go – you never know when you might get a discount!! An ISIC card is your best bet.
Companies may not provide you with accommodation, airfare etc. They will probably give you an hourly wage, and you have to arrange for everything. Mailing your supervisor or the HR department will not help, as company policy is strictly followed.
You should expect tax cuts on your pay check. Remember to file for tax returns. You should probably get all your money back, but only towards the end of the financial year, so you have to make arrangements to get money after you have left the country.
All in all, it is a great experience to work in a foreign industry, as you get good technical experience, an opportunity to visit places and participate in activities otherwise not possible in India, and an exposure to different cultures. All the best to those who are allowed to go abroad!