Winter Research Stories Part 1: The Beginning & Application

ANU at the beginning of Winter 2023

Hello, friends. Actually, my main motivation for writing on Medium is to document my ongoing learning and projects, as you can see in some of my previous posts. However, I’m about to share a different story: how I got the opportunity to participate in a “summer research project” that takes place during the “Australian winter” (as you might know, the Australian seasons are opposite), and be a part of the Future Research Talent Program, organized by the Australian National University.

The reason I’m sharing this story is that I clearly remember when I was looking for a similar program, I came across a story from my senior, Arifin Luthfi Maulana, TF17, who was conducting summer research at CERN (you can check his great story here 👌). I realized that I gained motivation, inspiration, and the information I needed from their story. So, I hope that if someone reads this (if anyone does XD), they can feel what I felt back then or at least obtain some useful information.

The Beginning

The story begins with me and one of my best college partners, M. Sulthan Mazaya, wondering, “What’s next to explore during college?” This didn’t mean being overly ambitious, as we were actually just two friends who enjoyed trying new things. Then, I knew we were thinking the same thing: having an experience going abroad, whether through student exchange, international competitions, international conferences, or other opportunities that we might not have known about yet.

At that time, we knew that the International Relation Office (IRO) at ITB offered a lot of information about such programs. After some time of consistently sharing information, we came across a program that seemed promising and aligned well with our backgrounds. This program was the Future Research Talent Awards, hosted by ANU.

So, what is Future Research Talent Awards?

The Future Research Talent (FRT) Award, in brief, is a program that enables individuals to participate in or conduct research projects at the Australian National University. This program is open to staff and students from India and Indonesia, focusing on topics within the fields of Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics, and Medicine.

very nice video from the FRT team 🙌

This program is fully funded by the Australian National University. During my time, participants received a sum of money, which was A$8500, and the research period typically ranged from 10 to 12 weeks. For a complete and detailed overview, you guys can check the program’s official website: Future Research Talent Awards — Indonesia | ANU College of Science.

Now I’ll mention some factors to consider when deciding if this program is the right fit for you.

1. The program is titled as “Future Research Talent Award,” so it includes a ceremonial award. During FRT 2023, the award was presented by the Vice-Chancellor of ANU and Nobel Laureate Brian P. Schmidt.
2. This program is research-based. You won’t attend classes on campus, and you won’t be considered a student. Even if you are undergraduate students, your ANU ID card will have the title as “Staff” lol.
3. The research output depends on your supervisor, and they are typically understanding, especially when it comes to undergraduate awardees who are still in the learning and experience-gaining phase. However, for scholars who are university lecturers or experienced researchers, they may have specific target outputs, like publications, and often plan to engage in long-term research projects.
4. The program’s duration and dates are flexible. You should complete your research within 10–12 weeks, but you can choose the dates that work for you as long as your supervisor approves. I recommend not being too different from others because you’ll miss out on many events and activities organized by the FRT Committee.
5. Since the program takes place during the summer vacation, you won’t need to skip a semester, and your graduation won’t be affected.
6. In this program, you don’t just do research all day or all month. I want to express my gratitude to Jay and the FRT Committee for organizing many events, including seminars, workshops, even exciting trips to Canberra, Sydney, and more!

Back to Story

After obtaining information about the FRT award, we both decided to give it a try and apply for the program. We also shared this valuable information with our other friends who might be interested. Each of us then began preparing our applications and gathering the necessary documents and information.

The first round of selection happened within our own colleges. At my college, Institut Teknologi Bandung, it was handled by the International Relations Office (IRO). IRO ITB had already provided details about the application deadline and what’s needed on its website and Instagram. Following these requirements, the documents I sent to IRO for the internal selection were:

1. CV: This highlighted my relevant experiences in college projects, research, and competitions that matched the project I wanted to join.
2. Academic Transcript
3. English Proficiency, I use Duolingo English Test at that time, just confirm it if that’s eligible in your application round.
4. Application Form: This form asked for various information, including my academic data, references, GPA, project preferences, and reasons for my choices. You can find the list of available projects on the program’s website, which I mentioned earlier. I selected a project that aligned with my previous work, and I’ll explain more when I discuss my motivation letter. In my case, my top choices were related to a physics simulation project about dark matter detection. Even though my background at ITB wasn’t in astronomy or science, I had some basic knowledge of astronomy from my participation in the national science olympiad during high school. I also picked software simulation and hardware prototype development because I had experience and skills in these areas from my engineering physics major and previous international competition projects or research papers from international conferences.

Please note that these were the requirements during my application for FRT 2023. There may have been some changes, so adjust it accordingly. Also, based on my conversation with an FRT awardee from another institution, the internal selection process might vary, especially the part about the motivation letter. So, it’s important to be adaptable.

Ten days after sending our documents for the internal selection, I received a message from IRO ITB saying I made it to the next step. Luckily, my friend from Engineering Physics also got through, so we kept preparing together. The next step was applying on the official ANU portal. They provided us with an application code for it. IRO ITB also asked us to email them our motivation letter four days after that.

During the application on the ANU official portal, we had to submit two recommendation letters from our references. In my case, one was from my academic advisor, and the other was from a lecturer with a similar research interest. In general, it’s best to choose a reference who knows your work well and can provide an honest assessment of your performance (assuming you’ve done well in your job XD). Also, keep in mind that your reference might be a busy person, so it’s essential to keep them informed about the recommendation letter deadline. I remember reaching out to one of my references a day before the deadline and even waiting outside his office for a chance to meet him. Remember, you’re the one who needs the letter, so be proactive and put in the effort.

In short, I received the two recommendation letters, uploaded them along with the other requirements I mentioned earlier on the ANU official portal. I also provided some additional information on the website (Don’t remember the details, sorry XD) and, with faith in God, submitted the application. Naturally, I felt a bit nervous, but I reminded myself that I had done my part, made my best effort (ikhtiar :D) in the application, and then simply prayed for the best results.

After a month of feeling anxious, the moment I had been eagerly waiting for finally came. I remember it clearly when I was studying for my final semester test in “Sensor and Measurement Methods” and then I saw a small notification from Gmail popping up.

My heart was racing, and I messaged my friend to check if they had received an email. None of us openly discussed the selection results because we were worried about potentially hurting someone’s feelings if one of us wasn’t accepted. Then, he made a call on “Line”, and we were relieved to find out that both of us had been accepted into the program. Alhamdulillah

After that, for some reason, there was a power outage in my area, and I completely lost my focus on preparing for the final test exam. Instead, all I could think about was, “Let’s go meet the Kangaroo!” 😂.

Then actually meet it at Mt. Stromlo Observatory

I think this story is getting a bit long. So far, I hope you’ve found something valuable here. Feel free to ask me any questions and thank you for reading this far. I’ve decided to write the next part about what happened after being accepted, including the preparation and the actual project experience, in a separate piece of writing. If you’re still interested, you can check it out here.