My Journey to Prestigious Research Scholarships

Hello everyone!

This summer, I had a golden opportunity of interning at the Robotics Institute, Carnegie Mellon University funded by the SN BOSE Scholarship and Robotics Institute Summer Scholars Program. This was not my first application and I encountered a lot of hardships while applying for different programs, as well as after getting one. Below I jot down some pointers, which I believe can benefit a student seeking a foreign research internship.

How to Apply?

1. To be eligible for the SN BOSE scholarship, one needs a No Objection Certificate from his/her university’s department. For DTU, each department asks for the resumes of interested students and selects two students based on their GPA and Research Projects (usually in the month of September, keep an eye on the notice-board of your respective department).
2. Next, the student needs to fill in their details, including their passport information. The portal also asks for a Statement of Purpose (~1000 words), and an essay of ~1000 words summarizing one’s research experiences (remember, the SoP emphasizes on why you’re different and what makes you, you. The research experience section wants you to detail your work, including what you have learned). The student also needs to provide transcripts, and two LORs from Professors (someone you’ve worked with).
3. The deadline is around the last week of October.

What’s important?

1. GPA - Seniors might suggest you studying one week before exams, and that’s okay (and sometimes necessary) but make sure you do well anyhow. Try to maintain a GPA of 9.0+. This will not only help in your MS applications but also act as a gateway to other opportunities. There has not been a single interview where I have not been asked for my GPA.
2. Research Projects - I am a part of awesome research groups where I get to learn something new every day. Sometimes, it is not possible to find a Professor with the same interests as yours in your own University. Do not hesitate to mail Professors from other Universities stating your background, your interests and how you would be an asset to their group.

I have been a member of the research group, MIDAS (IIITD) for about a year now. Under the esteemed guidance of Dr. Rajiv Ratn Shah, my knowledge about research has grown exponentially. I have worked on several projects in MIDAS, ranging from lip-reading projects to multimodal analysis of social networking data. Such projects helped me be technically sound in my fields of interest and let me explore the research world at an undergrad level. I will always be grateful to MIDAS for not only making my life golden but also, for giving me a family I can call my own.

1. LORs - These documents can make or break your application. Keep 3–5 professors in your list and make sure the LORs are personalized and not general. Also, the Professors are usually busy, so do not resort to the last day for asking the recommendation letter.
2. Extracurricular activities - Such scholarships do not want robots, and you should be involved in one or two activities, be it playing a sport or painting in your art book. Moreover, all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.

Give your best and leave the rest to fate. Hard work always pays off.

When are the results declared?

I received an email from the SN BOSE scholarship program on the 15th of January. The mail announced I had been “provisionally” shortlisted. This means that one has been granted the scholarship (stipend 2500 USD, round air trip, health insurance up to 500 USD), but he/she still needs to find a host institution.

This is a challenging task as professors receive mails in bulk, every day. Here are some pointers you might want to keep in mind:

1. Shortlist professors you would want to work with.
2. The list should include a few easily accessible profs too.
3. Mail the professors such that they receive the mails around 8–9 A.M., in their time zone. This is usually when everyone checks their mails and there is a higher probability that your mail might get read.
4. Use subject headlines like “Request for Research Internship - funded by S.N. Bose Scholarship for Summer’19”.
5. Your mail should be straight to the point. Avoid unnecessary details.
6. Be polite.
7. Mail 30–40 Professors each day.
8. Avoid mistakes like forgetting attaching your resume, or using wrong salutations.
9. If you use MailChecker, make sure that it is not visible in the mail.
10. Do not be disheartened if you do not get a response.
11. There is a lot of luck involved in this step, and keep trying until you succeed.

If you get a positive reply, ask the Professor whether they will be able to reimburse your housing expenses (this is not included in the scholarship). Once you’ve found your “perfect match”, you should proceed with the logistics.

VISA

CMU has an excellent team responsible for the visa issuance. The university will ask for several documents including NOC from the college, transcripts, bank details of parents, etc. The university then processes your documents and if they’re correct, provides a DS2019 document. Once you’ve received this document, you can go ahead and book your visa appointments.

There are two visa appointments:

1. Biometric - No need to fret. They will ask basic questions like your name and DOB.
2. Interview- You need to be confident here. There is a list of words you should avoid during the interview. Go through them. Avoid unnecessary details. Smile.

The travel desk at SN Bose Scholarship reserves your tickets, once you have received your stamped visa.

Packing

If you are a vegetarian like me, finding good food will be slightly difficult. Hence, try packing lots of ready-to-eat food. If you can, try and learn a few kitchen tips from your mum, Trust me, your life will be so simple if you know how to cook two-three basic dishes. But, if you cannot, then most places have Indian Restaurants and stores, so you will do fine. DO NOT CONVERT USD TO INR. Make a budget (say 10 dollars) and stick to that for every meal. Universities usually have air conditioning, so do carry a few light jackets (I did not and suffered).

Travel

This was my first time traveling to the States alone. It is by far the most enriching feeling ever. I felt like a grown-up (a grown-up who was running from one gate to another to catch flights at layovers). Anyway, everyone around is helpful. The keynote is to be alert.

Accommodation

In my case, I was not provided with on-campus housing. So we had to sublet a place. There are a lot of groups on Facebook where people rent their rooms for the summer. You should start hunting for a place as soon as you get your acceptance letter. Do negotiate and make sure the deal is genuine. I was lucky to find an amazing place at a very cheap price.

Research

Here comes my favorite part. CMU has an amazing research environment. Even during the summer, you can find people in their labs at 3 am in the morning. I too was succumbed to the CMU culture and have left CMU at 6 am in the morning. This summer, I worked on RoboTutor, an Intelligent Tutoring system that aims to teach basic literacy and numeracy to children ages 6–12. My work revolved around the analysis of the logged videos from the beta sites in Tanzania. Mainly, I extracted visual cues from the videos to train an affect recognizer system with the eventual goal of guiding the tutor’s pedagogical decisions to increase the students’ learning gains. I cannot describe how grateful I am to Professor Jack Mostow who has been a great mentor and taught me the essence of research. All in all, you learn a lot. Not only from your lab but from all others surrounding you. After this internship, I am pretty sure I want to delve deeper.

Hope this was helpful! For further questions, you can contact me via email. Cheers!