BITSRnD caught up with Soundarya Krishnan, a fourth-year student from BITS Goa, who had secured an internship at Dalhousie University, Canada through the MITACS Globalink Research Program.
More information about the program can be found here: https://www.mitacs.ca/en/programs/globalink/globalink-research-internship
The Application Process
Can you give our readers some advice on how you chose your labs of preference and what makes a successful MITACS Application? How did you decide upon the area(s) that you wanted to apply for?
The MITACS application process is one of the easier ones to complete, as it doesn’t involve emailing professors. The process begins in September or so, and requires filling your 7 most preferred projects in the order of preference along with a couple of short, 100 word essays. Here are some tips for students:
- Don’t get distracted by the rankings of the universities. Give more importance to your project preferences, because almost all professors are highly qualified and have high research caliber. Keep in mind that projects in very highly ranked universities are very competitive, thereby diminishing your chances of selection.
- Once you’ve made your list of preferred projects, break this list down into REACH, EXPECTED, and SAFETY options, and try to include projects from all categories.
- Pick projects that are best aligned with your profile, this will tremendously boost your chances of being selected by the professor.
- While I am unsure of how accurate this information is, there are claims that professors search the keywords that they are interested in, thus, it may be a good idea to tailor your CV to incorporate these terms and keywords.
- Use the SOP section carefully and show how interested you are in that field. A mistake that many people make while applying is re-iterating their CV in this section. Applicants should leverage this section to highlight their interest in their field of choice.
Coming to my area of interest, I was very interested in working in the field of Quantum Information. I looked up quantum information related projects (this is also very easy to do, there’s just a search bar), and I picked those which had requirements that fit my interests and profile best. I hadn’t done any research in this field before, and here is where I believe your SOP and essays matter.
Can you tell us more about the area of your internship? What are the potential applications of your work or future directions in your field?
I worked at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia, under Dr. Neil Julien Ross (https://mathstat.dal.ca/~neilr/). The field of my internship was largely theoretical and mathematical in nature. I wanted to study this topic as it was something that was very exciting to me- something that I hadn’t worked on earlier. That year, the field of QIC saw several breakthroughs that really excited me and piqued my curiosity. Additionally, I also wanted to experience research culture and gauge if it was something that I would enjoy pursuing in the long run.
Dalhousie University
The Internship Experience
What was working in a professional research lab like? What were some unexpected aspects of this experience?
My research experience was brilliant. I felt that there was more collaborative learning than I had seen earlier, and deadlines were a little more relaxed than what I had been used to. There is more emphasis on overall character growth and on the presentation of work. I had a very good relationship with my professor and peers. We had frequent gatherings and conversations outside of work, and this was something that I hadn’t experienced before. We also had frequent talks from people outside our immediate research group, and several informal learning sessions with the team. Overall, the research culture was inclusive, collaborative, and very fun!
How was your experience outside of the work? Did you face any hurdles before or during your Internship?
I learned a lot about interacting with people from different cultures. For example, in Halifax, it was often considered rude to not thank the bus driver when entering and exiting, and everyone always held doors open for the next person to enter! I felt that the experience was also important in terms of living independently in a different country and respecting different cultures and their experiences. I stayed in the university residence, and there were plenty of other MITACS scholars from Brazil, Mexico, Russia, and China. It was very interesting to know that there were plenty of experiences common to all of us despite our widely differing backgrounds, and at the same time, it was very enlightening to know the differences as well!
Streets of Halifax at night
One thing that I struggled a little with was cooking. Vegan options were often much more expensive, and not very common as Halifax was a coastal city. I would strongly recommend people to plan their meals a week in advance and go shopping accordingly. I did not do this and ended up wasting hundreds of dollars worth of groceries.
Future Prospects
How did this experience color your perception of a career in research? Did it propel you in a specific direction? Has it helped choose a field to focus on for the next stage of your life, post-college?
This internship was extremely valuable to me in terms of things I learned, academic as well as otherwise! I was extremely drawn to research post this experience, especially due to the freedom in thought and collaborative nature of it. I was previously very intimidated by research, but this experience made me realize that while it is challenging, people are always around to help you learn. I was also under the false impression that research life has no deadlines, and that it is isolating. These perceptions changed after my MITACS experience, and I’m now much more likely to take research up as a career. I also learned a great deal about dealing with different sets of people, and a great deal of cooking as well!
Soundarya’s MITACS cohort
Do you have any advice for our readers?
I would like to ask people to definitely apply for research experiences abroad, they will really broaden your horizons! Please don’t feel intimidated by these applications. Apply for them no matter how your profile is (as long as it satisfies the minimum requirements like the required GPA). Don’t get demotivated in case if you don’t get selected- a lot of this process is random and not being selected does not necessarily mean that you’re less competent. Always be on the lookout for opportunities, something will definitely work in your favour! Please don’t hesitate to contact me if you have any questions!
BITS R&D 
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