LIFE IN TECH
Cracking the Research internship with IAS
Summer Research Fellowships Program(SRFP) offered by the Indian Academy of Sciences, is a summer immersion experience.
With the sweet November, like every year, the prestigious Summer Research Fellowship offered by the Indian Academy of Sciences is again around the corner. In this time of rush to search for a summer internship, like always this fellowship has created a buzz among students and technical communities.
Being a former Summer Research Fellow-2017, I have shared my experience in the article “Walking you through my experience with IAS” and now here I am with a brief introduction to the Summer Research Fellowship 2019 by Indian Academy of Sciences.
What is IAS:
The Indian Academy of Sciences(IAS), Bangalore was founded by C. V. Raman, and was registered as a Society on 24 April 1934. Inaugurated on 31 July 1934, it began with 65 founding fellows. (Source: Wikipedia)
The aims of the Academy are:
- Promote progress in pure and applied branches of science.
- Encourage important research in various branches of science.
- Represent the scientific work of India internationally.
- Publish work relating to scientific research initiated by the Academy, Provincial Academies, Universities and Government Scientific Institutions.
- Organize meetings of Committees and Conferences to discuss papers submitted to the Academy.
- Advise Government and other bodies on scientific and other matters referred to the Academy.
What is the Summer Research Fellowship Program:
Summer Research Fellowships Program(SRFP) offered by the Indian Academy of Sciences, is a summer immersion experience which supplements research activities that occur during the academic year. Typically, this is a highly competitive undergraduate program, overseen by a college’s faculty(Typically of IITs, NITs, IISCs and other prestigious colleges in India), who provide general guidance to the undergraduate’s research work. The Fellowship is offered for a minimum of 8 Weeks. Areas of research vary widely and can come from any art or science discipline.
The SRFP for the year 2019 has already been declared. Here is the link to the Application page.
Why should you go for SRF Program:
Science Academies’ Summer Research Fellowship Programme (SRPF) is a prestigious and one of the most competitive research internship programmes for Indian students and teachers. Through this program, the three National Science Academies (Indian Academy of Sciences, Bangalore, Indian National Science Academy, New Delhi, and The National Academy of Sciences, Allahabad) offer two-month summer fellowships/internships to enable students and teachers to work with scientists, researchers and professors. The prestige of this fellowship comes with its tag and the massive competition that one has to face to be presented with this opportunity. The year 2017 saw a massive 20 to 30 thousand applicants from which 1,436 were awarded fellowships in all fields of science combined. (Source: The Bridge).
The fellowship program contributes a lot to the resume and it is a benchmark in the career if someone is highly motivated to pursue his/her career in the field of research.
Eligibility:
Being the dream internship for every student and research aspirant, SRFP has a well-structured eligibility criterion. The minimum percentage in core subjects from Xth standard should be 65% or above. The broad areas of interests are Engineering including Computer Science, Chemistry, Life Sciences, Mathematics, Earth and Planetary Sciences and Physics. The application must include:
- The application form in the prescribed format;
- Scanned copies of marks sheets from class X till the last examination;
- A write-up (in about 150–250 words) as to what the applicant wants to learn and achieve
- A letter of recommendation from a faculty or HoD who is familiar with the applicant’s work is to be presented along with the application.
The brief instruction page for the year 2019 can be found here.
Selection Proces:
The 2017 edition of SRFP saw many changes from its previous chapters. Until 2016, there was a practice where the applicants have to submit a list of professors whom they are willing to work under, with their application. This is no longer followed. The applicants were only allowed to submit their area of interest for the internship through their write-up from the 2017 edition. Apart from academia based fellowships, the programme was also extended for industry-based internships.
The selection process of the SRF program mostly revolves around the write-up and the structure of application of the applicants. The write-up or State of Purpose is a crucial part of the application as it is a major part of the deciding factor for choosing an applicant. Though the Percentage or CGPA of the student also plays an important role, still a well-written application can grab more importance.
Stipends:
The programme also includes a generous stipend. Round trip train fare(Travel Expenses) and a monthly stipend to meet the fellow’s living expenses at the place of work (amounts to over Rs. 20,000) are given. The Academy also offers accommodation arrangements in the specific city. However, the expenses of the stay are to be paid by the fellow at first.
How to Apply:
It is very easy to apply to the fellowship. For that, it is just required to fill up an online form with anticipated documents. The link of the form for the year 2019, can be found here.
Before filling up the form:
Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe.
- Abraham Lincoln
So before rushing directly into filling up the form make sure you checklist all the points mentioned below.
- Go through the Instruction page very very carefully
- If a candidate is found at any point of time to have submitted false information, his/her fellowship will be canceled, and he/she will be asked to pay back the fellowship amount/travel allowance etc. that has been paid to him/her. Further his/her guide and the Institution in which he/she is currently studying will be informed of the matter. (Point-16 of instruction page)
- Download the SRFP app.
- Go through the guide list for sure. This will provide you a better insight of the research fields which guides are into.
- Try to figure out your area of interest which matches the interest field of guide the best.
- If you don’t know your area of interest, it is somehow okay to find a domain with the maximum number of guides.
- Once you get your domain, list out all the mentors in the filed and do check their most recent work in google scholar.
- It is okay if you don’t understand most of the percent of the work, still, try to figure out their work which suits the most to your profile or experience.
- Mailing those professors personally is not recommended.
Filling up the form:
When you will click to register, you will be asked to fill out your interest. Fill it up as per your preference and select sub-area of your interest form the given options.
Now Coming to the main form,
Q1-Q6) Fill all your personal details very carefully. (Typos can create a huge problem here)
Q-7)In this question, you have to provide your academic details and upload relevant documents in JPG format. Make sure that all the documents are below 700KB.(Can use online resizing tools for the same)
Q-8) Here comes the tricky part, the Training/projects undertaken if any (give details). Though the question is optional still don’t leave it blank. Write relevant projects only. By relevant, I mean the projects related to the domain you have chosen earlier. If you don’t have any project then make one (even though it is quite simple)or go through any project in detail(even the work of any of the guides) and mention it. Don’t plagiarize any of the content.
Q-12) Mention all of your extra-curricular activities which shows your community involvement, leadership, blogging or mentorship. Try to show your relationship with people around you and how you try to create an impact on your society (even a small effort or contribution counts).
Q-13) Here, you can write about any of your projects with high value or any of your research experience. It would be more awesome if you can suggest any project that you would like to work on in the future if you qualify for the fellowship.
Q-14) While selecting the months of work, make sure that you at least provide a gap of 8 weeks. The exact date can be discussed with the mentor later
Q-15) The Write-up: Honestly, I am not a person proficient enough to tell that how to write a perfect write-up but here is what I understand about it from my google searches.
a) Your write-up is the face of your whole life which you have to summarize in just 150–250 words. (This is no joke)
b) Your write-up should clearly portray what kind of person you are and what are your aspirations.
c) Let them know why you need this fellowship and how it will be useful for you.
d)Always make a draft write-up and keep editing it. Try to get as many reviews as you can on your write-up from your teachers, alumni or friends.
Next, you will have to give contact details of one of your teacher( preferably HOD). The concerned faculty will be contacted directly to give your recommendation.
NOTE: While filling do not use special/scientific characters like ø, ü, ô, ý, Ã ,ù, ¯, — , etc….. otherwise you won’t be able to submit the form.
Result:
The result of IAS fellowship is published in many slots. So don’t panic if you don’t crack it in the first slot. Wait for your turn and keep checking your mail.
Follow Up:
During the course of the internship, the fellow is required to submit a Four-Week report at the end of one month, regarding the progress of the project and a Final Report of a detailed 20-page description of the fellow’s work. In the end, it is required to submit the whole report to the Academy in order to get the stipend fees.
So with this, I wrap up this tutorial about Cracking the Summer Research Fellowship. In this whole process of IAS, I learned a lot and I sincerely advise you all to make the most out of it. I wish all the very best for the aspirants. For any specific doubt, I can be contacted by LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/anisha1234/ .
If you liked the article, do give it a high-five as many times as you like :-P and stay tuned till the next article. Sayonara !!!
