A Story from CERN: Pre-departure and Application

2018 CERN Summer Students

One day in around mid-January of 2018, my lab partner got a notification about the 2018 CERN Summer Student Program open application. He mentioned it to me and for a very brief moment, I was suddenly intrigued to seriously apply. The program has been prestigious for Engineering Physics and Electrical Engineering undergrads of ITB for years. I had always been interested to apply and be the next lucky student to depart, but not to that level of seriously preparing for it. The application period was just a few ticks away and I was already preoccupied with my undergraduate thesis project. I decided to give it a try and I rushed my application. I was very fortunate to gain some helpful advice from my seniors, Gde Bimananda Mahardika Wisna (2014 summies) and Muhammad Fadhil Ginting (2016 summies), as well as from my professors.

I happened to successfully finish my application just in time (31 January) and I will explain the details of the application in the next section. I had to wait for quite some time for the result to be announced. For weeks, I always checked my email and spam folder. Whenever there is new email notification, my heart rushed like hell. It was on the night of 19 March when I received the decision. I was doing my research in the lab (or was doing something else) and this email notification suddenly popped up. The first word I read was “Congratulations!” and I almost fainted without reading the rest of the email. I was jubilant that I broke the silence in my lab and my friends were startled. One other summer student from ITB was Joshua Gunawan, an Electrical Engineering student in his junior year. I suggest you read his elaborate and marvelous writing here.

The first thing that came to my mind, however, was about my financial status. The joy momentarily ended here. The thought really occupied me. If I were to pay it by myself, the cost would be astronomical (it’s Switzerland for God’s sake), even only for the flights. The administrator and I had a lot of email exchanges for weeks only discussing my financial support. I had already drafted a proposal in a request for financial assistance to prospective sponsors in the meantime of waiting for the final decision. This financial uncertainty delayed me applying for the visa, buying the flight tickets, and also booking the accommodation. It was an anxious period for me, apart from being stressed by my thesis research. One day, fortunately, we were notified by the administrator that CERN would fully support us, including the daily and travel allowances (*phew*). In later days, we discovered that STFC (Science and Technology Facilities Council) of the UK was our generous sponsor and I cannot express enough gratitude towards them.

This was not the end of the misery, unfortunately. The administrator contacted us around early May while I had to depart in Mid June. Yeah, I was very late to apply for my visa. Although Switzerland is not part of the EU, it still participates in the European Economic Area, meaning a Schengen visa is required to enter Switzerland. To apply for the visa, normally we need to make an appointment with TLS Contact, a third party employed by the Switzerland Embassy in Jakarta to process visa applications. I tried to find the earliest visa interview appointment and it was 22 June (and the dumb me thought it was 22 May). But guess what, my first working day at CERN happened to be on 11 June!

Oh boy, it was stressful. I was stressed so many times but this one was on the summit since this would be the only key for me to enter Europe. I contacted the administrator about this and with the power of CERN’s diplomacy, my visa appointment could be rearranged. Someone from TLS called me on the morning of 22 May (I was taking a bath and my phone rang several times, I was still undressed when I answered the call) that my appointment was rescheduled to 23 May at 09:00 AM. It was a very relieving moment, but I was also mildly agitated (*summit of stress plus infinitesimal delta stress*). In less than 24 hours, I had to prepare all my documents and depart for Jakarta from Bandung. Lucky me as a perfectionist, I have prepared all of the required documents and I was relieved that the earliest train to Jakarta was still available.

The process was quite smooth since it was clear that CERN itself invited me to go there and would be responsible for all financial matters. Long story short, I finally got my visa and I was ready to depart for Geneva. I probably will write for a second part about my research and activities there, but for now, let’s look at the details of the application first.

Now comes the serious part. I will give you some general advice on applying for the CERN Summer Student Program. As a disclaimer, this was the application process that took place in 2018, so adjust it accordingly. Firstly, you need to be qualified for the program.

1. You have to be a bachelor’s or a master’s student in physics, engineering, computer science, or mathematics. You need to be at least in your third year. I was in my fourth year and I had to postpone my graduation plan from July to October. There were many master students from other countries, but for Indonesia, it was always undergraduate students.
2. You will remain to be registered as a university student during your stay at CERN. My program lasted from June to August and I planned to graduate in the following October, so I was still eligible to apply.
3. You have not worked at CERN before with any status, including as a previous summer student.
4. You are fluent in English. The ability to speak French would be an advantage since Geneva is located in French-speaking Switzerland (*knowing bonjour, bon appetit, and baguette is not enough*). You may notice that I did not mention anything about language certificates. You are not required to submit proof that you are fluent in English (like TOEFL or IELTS) or French (*TOFFL? Lol*). You only need to self-rate your language skills.

If you meet the qualifications, then you may proceed with your application. Secondly, there are several documents which you need to carefully prepare.

1. A CV in either English or France. A CV needs to be compact with a maximum of two pages. You need to include information about your higher education (university level only and with a statement of your GPA), professional experiences (e.g., teaching or laboratory assistantship), skills and abilities (technical and language skills), research interests, published papers (if available), organizational experiences, and honors (e.g., scholarships and awards). For your information, European communities usually do not require your picture to be enclosed in your CV.
2. A copy of your overall academic transcript to date. Your university should be able to assist you to provide the English-transliterated version.
3. Two reference letters. You need to find two professionals who recognize you the most to write a recommendation letter for you, for instance, your professors, academic advisors, or previous employers. Your referee may require your CV or resume for reference, so make sure to prepare it beforehand. The referees need to submit it electronically on their own, so make sure to keep up the progress with your referees and remind them of the deadlines. In my case, I asked my thesis advisor (a full professor and the head of a research lab) and my academic advisor (who happened to be the head of an important organizational unit in ITB) to write the letter for me. Fortunately, they were keen to write the letter and submitted it on time. Until today, I do not know what they wrote and it will remain a secret.

You may also want to have your passport ready (if you read this, just apply for a passport now, it will come in handy in unexpected circumstances). Thirdly, you are required to fill a form in which you are required to explain your motivation in applying for the position, preferred research topics, and relevant works.

1. You need to have a strong motivation in applying for the position. Explain your educational background concisely and why it is related to what they do at CERN. Enclose your future goal and why CERN has to be a great way in achieving it. In my case, I aspire to be a researcher in the field of materials science and engineering. CERN offers a wide range of materials-related research and this would be a great opportunity to start building up my research career. To be a researcher, I also need to learn how to work inside a culturally diverse research group which happened to be one of the most appealing characteristics of CERN.
2. Your research interest should be correlated with CERN’s research projects. If you can find what CERN is doing right now, you have a great advantage in tailoring your research needs with their current activities. For instance, I had been extensively immersed in the field of materials science. At CERN, materials research has always been necessary since their research depends strongly on the development of sensors and detectors. Since I had found this correlation between my research interest and CERN’s research focus, I found it quite uncomplicated in writing the application.
3. You need to enclose any works relevant to your research interest or your education. You can mention your awards from winning competitions (which I did not have at all), share your international experiences, or explain your experience in conducting research. The latter one was my greatest advantage since I was a fourth-year student in the middle of finishing my thesis research. I also mentioned my experiences as a teaching assistant for several courses as well as my intention to publish a research paper.

So, these are the requirement-based pieces of advice I can offer. In conclusion, you need to have a strong interest to do research in whatever fields you are keen to. From my experience, you cannot produce a concise and attractive resume by typing it overnight. Please prepare it in advance and ask your friends or seniors to review it for you. You can also ask me to review your application (my rates are in USD now *wink wink*).

Lastly, I hope you get inspiration and helpful advice from reading this article. I’m wishing you a wonderful journey ahead.