SRFP— Indian Academy of Sciences
“When I was in college, I wanted to be involved in things that would change the world.” — Elon Musk.
The Phone Call
In the middle of my intense real-time strategy war game, I received a phone call from an unknown number, and the conversation went something like this:
“Hello, am I speaking to Harshith Mohan Kumar”
“Yep, that’s me; who is this?” I responded.
“Dear Harshith, you have been admitted into the summer research fellowship program at the Indian Institute of Science. Your guide would be Anurag Kumar, the past director of IISc. Please confirm that you are willing to participate.”
Now here is when I made a classic mistake… Still awaiting the GSoC 2021 results, I was hesitant to accept the SRFP 2021 offer.
“Sir, would it be possible for me to let you know in a few days?” I naively responded.
Thankfully I had forgotten to mute myself on discord. My friend chimed in initially to report that we were getting our butts kicked in our game but then advised me to take the SRFP offer and choose between the two later.
And so I corrected myself, “Sir, actually, I’d like to confirm my position. Thank you!”
We lost our game, and I didn’t get into GSoC. But thankfully, I was preparing myself to work with Honorary Professor Anurag Kumar on a wonderfully challenging research topic for the following months!
Introduction
Many of you young aspiring researchers might have stumbled upon this blog post in the interest of applying and working at one of the big three Indian Academy of Sciences institutes.
My name is Harshith Mohan Kumar, a Computer Science and Engineering student from PES University with a merely 7.57 CGPA at the time of applying to SRFP 2021.
The SRFP program is an incredibly competitive nationwide research program for college students and professors. It allows students to work with the nation’s leading researchers across a wide range of engineering domains.
In this article, I will present my experience applying for and participating in the Summer Research Fellowship Program (SRFP).
Outline
- Before Application
- Application Process
- Before Internship
Before Application
I received admission into this prestigious program with a 7.57 CGPA. How on earth did I accomplish this? I hate taking tests… Especially in Indian colleges, where you are forced to memorize the material to regurgitate it on the day of the exam. However, I found beauty in coding and learning from practical projects.
By the time of my application process, I had over four mid-level projects decently documented on GitHub. In addition, I was active on LinkedIn and conquered Java and Python in HackerRank.
A numerical number does not differentiate you from the crowd. To stand out, you must demonstrate that you are highly passionate and hard-working! So, stop reading this article for the time being and start building your digital portfolio.
When does the application open: Around mid-September
Where do I find the application: The right-hand column of this website. [Image instruction posted below]
When is the application due: Around early November
Application Process
The SRFP application is quite simple. Apart from your academic details, it requests the following:
- Training/projects undertaken
- Extra-curricular activities
- Any other information
- A write-up (150–250) words
So let's talk about this. Starting with the first section, “Training/projects”. Make sure to elaborate on the most essential elements of each project and provide a link that displays the results or contains the codebase.
Next, with “Extra-curricular activities”, don’t be shy to mention that you played in a sports team but make sure to tie it in with how that experience led to growth. For example, were you a team leader in a sports team? If so, elaborate on leadership skills using this.
In the “Any other information” try to provide a brief statement about your diversity. For example, did you grow up in a village or struggle with basic needs? Again, this is a great way to set yourself apart from the rest of the applicants. But DO NOT use this field to provide excuses.
Finally, coming to the “write-up”. For this 250-word two-paragraph, I recommend you all do extensive research on the list of guides. Picking faculty members you would like to work with and going through their projects will allow you to write a fitting proposal.
Before Internship
Yay! You have been accepted, so what do you do now? Stay calm, and spend the following months adequately preparing for the internship by reading the research papers of your faculty guide. Highlight, annotate and comprehend their past projects to the best of your abilities. You must put in the time and effort to achieve the best from this program!
Summary
I hope you all have enjoyed reading this article. If you have any questions feel free to contact me on LinkedIn. If you want to read about my Google Summer of Code 2022 experience, click here. Make sure to follow me on medium for more content like this!