Pursuing higher studies abroad is one of the cherished dream of every undergraduate student. The reason is simple - learning from the legends and peers is one of the key component of a good educational system which triggers the students to remain creative for rest of his or her life. Anindya Sundar Paul, a Research Scholar from University of St Andrews, UK, gives a detail outline of various academic programs for perusing higher studies in abroad. This article is an upgraded of based on Anindya's discussion in the 'CASILab Webinar' on 'Career in Physics for the UG & PG Students' held on August 23, 2020. Students will get detail information about various scholarship from links he given in this article.
Posted by: Anindya Sundar Paul, Research Scholar at School of Physics and Astronomy, University of St Andrews, UK
Email: pal.anindya91@gmail.com
An oft heard desire, clear at that, (although may not be necessarily loud) among us folks from the remote southern Assam valleys is: “If I had a clear picture of a roadmap in terms of what to look for, how to prepare, and other relevant stuff, I could’ve given a shot at studying abroad.” Studying abroad in itself is an extremely wider vision, one that needs to be trimmed and narrowed down to guesstimates at worst, and a handful of informed choices at best. Through this article, I would try to do just that at the best of my abilities.
I'll note down some pointers which could be a possible guideline for someone who's barely new into the domain and doesn't have any idea as to how to proceed for positions outside of India. This is, of course, not an exhaustive list, and neither is a tell-all story. Primarily from my perspective as to how I approached things, along with inputs from some good friends of mine who’ve been gracious enough to extend help by providing valuable information.
Disclaimer: It's absolutely fine if no one is even remotely interested in following up on this; also, fine if one/more person does. Not everything in this might be relevant to each one of you. This article could help start a conversation, and if that happens, both CASILab and I would consider that a success.
In no specific order:
1. Identifying your strength and interest: This is a no-brainer. Someone preparing for a PhD should sort out their priorities in terms of area of interest and strength. Of course, one can switch fields polar opposite to their previous works, as many have done over the years. [Case in point: My Masters' thesis was in thin-film technology, have been working in ultracold atoms and molecules till very recently and will work in the domain of semiconductor quantum optics in my PhD] But one has to have a clear picture in mind what interests them, and then proceed to learn the physics involved in the subject, and, if possible, gain some relevant skills beyond their curriculum through pursuing an internship (before/during/after their Bachelors/Masters)
2. Internship: A lot of Indian students don't understand the real significance of this word, or have a vague idea. The primary objective of this is not to add a line in their CV or show to their next employer. The objective is two-fold:
a. To test your interest in research, to identify problems, and try to solve them, initially depending on someone else, later to be independent as much as possible.
b. To test whether or not the field one is working in, the person has real interest so as to hold on to it for a long-time till, at the very least, the end of PhD, if not the entire research career.
Typically, it is advisable to go for internships after the 2nd year/4th semester of B.Sc., once the students have at least gained the basics of QM and CM, which helps them visualize a picture and make informed choices as to what interests them, and what field they'd like to choose going forward. (*) More internships, the merrier. I did an internship even after my Masters, so there's no bad time to go for it.
(*) e.g.: I had a massive inclination to study particle physics after taking the course in B.Sc., but later realized that my interest and potential lied in experimental quantum optics, only when I did an internship during the summer of my Masters' year break. A friend of mine did a 2nd Masters (1 yr. M.Res.) from Nottingham after graduating with Int. M.Sc. (Hons.) from NIT Rourkela. The point is to develop one’s skill set and interest so that everything aligns properly to help them achieve their immediate and near future goals, if not anything beyond the PhD.
Here’s a non-exhaustive list of portals and places which offer paid internships. Further details can be availed from their websites. (if anyone finds any difficulty in working through such, just drop me a line at the above-mentioned address)
A. IASc : This is by far the most exhaustive and comprehensive, and hence, one of the most competitive Indian internship solution for science.
B. MITACS : This is again a top tier, international internship program organized by Canadian institutes for a host of countries, including India.
C. OIST : This is particular to one of the finest Japanese universities which offer internships ranging from 2-6 months.
D. Innumerable groups and universities across the world (of course, including the top tier research institutes across India, above and beyond the IASc. fellowship) offer paid internships. This is a bit tricky upfront, but the simplest way to work it out is to write to someone (preferably the Postdoc, over the Group Leader/Professor [often very busy, but mostly jobs are allocated and designated to specific persons in the group]) and ask about intern position vacancy.
3. Interaction: This is where people from our valley suffers the most. The other purpose of an internship as well as conferences and workshops is to connect with people-professors and students alike. At the end of the day, it's a community that looks out for each other. And to be fairly honest, it is very difficult to go out of the community to help someone when there are far too many inside who would need help.
Anyway, interaction leads to two things: a. knowledge of who is working on what; so that expands the student's perspective.
b. faster access to solutions of problems that one might get stuck; more peers to ask = more ideas = faster solutions.
4. Applications: This is a bit layered concept. I’d try to break it down in manageable ways.
For US/Canada/Singapore/HK:
It is fairly formula-based: One has to write general GRE, GRE Subject Tests, TOEFL/IELTS and then apply to the universities based on the individual scores and choice. The obvious advantage is that the task is streamlined, very organized. The disadvantage is that the exams and applications for most US universities would total to anything upwards of INR 90k. Yes, very expensive.
For EU/EEA/UK/Israel/Taiwan/Japan/China/ANZ: There's no set formula to apply for positions in these countries. While some universities typically have applications and positions listed on their main website, most of the times, it is the groups that offer positions. Sometimes, the positions are listed in some 3rd party websites like
B. Astronomy/Theoretical Physics (TP) related: JRA, Hyperspace
C. Quantum Matter, Optics, Information, Computation, Ultracold Physics: ucantoronto, quantiki, ECA, QO
D. High energy Physics, TP, Astroparticle, etc.: InspireHEP
and so on and so forth. However, talking to peers and friends and from my personal experience, I can fairly say that the best approach is to write to the postdoc of the group (for reasons explained above) and enquire about vacancies, and once they've identified the group and the relevant project and depending on the student’s CV and availability, they'd follow all the necessary protocols and ask for next steps.
So, this, in a nutshell, is the basic structure on which one can base upon to start for studying and researching on their interests and applications. In compiling the article, I might have erroneously missed a lot of information, but have tried to put out verified links and information as much as possible. In the meanwhile, if anybody has any questions, they're free to shoot a mail to me and I'll respond to those to the best of my abilities.
Acknowledgements: I’d like to take this opportunity to thank Dr. Surajit Sen for extending this platform to connect with bright, young students and peers from my homeland and exchange ideas across topics in Physics. I’d also like to extend my heartfelt gratitude to my friends and peers (O. Geeth Chandra, K. Ankush Reddy and Javed Akhtar) in collating the information which were much beyond my scope and imagination.
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