I was interested in doing a research internship at external labs during my undergraduate. The process was very complex, starting from self-doubts, impending feelings. I guess all the feelings while looking for opportunities are usual (atleast for ambivert people like me 😁) .
The First Stage
The process started by the end of 5th semester of B.Tech, I started with Linkedin connection to new people, asking suggestion from connections who did previous research internships. Most of the suggestions were cold e-mails. Few suggestions I got were to apply to standard internship programs. I followed the former because, I wasn't confident enough to apply for standard programs (since I didn't have prior research experience).
The Longest Stage
I started cold emailing to all the robotic labs around the world for possible opportunities. This was the time when I didn't have any direction or specific interest in any sub-areas of AI and Robotics. I would definitely suggest anyone to start cold e-mailing, because you never know where the opportunity lies.
Next is the phase of waiting of replies from professors and researchers. I know and do understand that people are busy with their schedules. Mostly people don't reply instantly, and most of them don't reply at all. So this is the most uncertain of the stages. I mailed, waited and even sent follow-up mails to few researchers.
The Happy Ending
Finally, few people responded to the mails. I was fortunate enough to get replies ( both +ve and -ve ) from researchers and professors from Stanford University, University of Pennsylvania, University of Leeds, University of Lincoln, University of Sydney, etc. I was invited to interview in few of them. And got rejected in some. Finally, I had a handful of options to choose from, It was definitely a tough decision to make. I decided to go with University of Lincoln, mostly because of the alignment of interest with the project available.
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