THE UNITED NATIONS' RESEARCH INITIATIVE- TDR GLOBAL HAS AWARDED RECOGNITION TO KONNIFEL'S RESEARCH INTERNSHIP PROGRAMME AND MENTORSHIP PROGRAMME
THE UNITED NATIONS' RESEARCH INITIATIVE- TDR GLOBAL HAS AWARDED RECOGNITION TO KONNIFEL'S RESEARCH INTERNSHIP PROGRAMME AND MENTORSHIP PROGRAMME
When you are young and just starting out in your career, it could prove to be a highly enriching and rigorous experience if you commence with a research internship offered under a professor’s supervision. It provides you with an opportunity to explore your area of specialisation at a greater depth, discover your research abilities, and contribute to the current work.
Starting with a research internship under a professor’s guidance offers you a chance to delve deep into your field of interest, find your research skills, and make meaningful contributions to ongoing projects. However, the initial elation of bagging such a highly coveted position can quickly melt into more serious concerns. What will my duties as an intern be? What if I don’t know how to perform my tasks? Is it alright to ask the professors questions?
The aim of this article is to provide clarity and guidance on navigating your research internship experience.
First of all, it is crucial to grasp the scope and expectations of your internship. Upon starting, have a detailed discussion with your professor or instructor about the goals, tasks, and timelines. To understand the expectations of the professor, have an introductory meeting in which you clarify all your doubts and concerns regarding the internship. It is essential for the young researcher to get this understanding from the professor or the instructor so that they have detailed objectives, tasks, as well as schedules at the beginning of the research internship program.
Every professor will have a way of working and guiding you throughout the internship process. Some internships are open-ended while others may have more rigid time frames. It is essential to understand this unique style of functioning. For example, in case your professor wants you to work on a literature review, find out about the specific areas of focus, and how to provide a comprehensive literature review for the same. If you are to conduct experiments, try to understand the instructions clearly on the protocols and expected outcomes.
In any internship, one has to embrace a professional mode of working. You must show up on time, deliver as per schedule, and be responsive in meetings and other forms of communication. You must be proactive throughout the project, and prove your interest by helping without being asked. If you encounter a problem, try to come up with potential solutions before approaching your professor. This shows that you are proactive and engaged.
Next, constant interaction with your professor is also useful. It is recommended that you decide on the frequency of the meetings aligned with your professor’s schedule, during which you can discuss your progress, the bottlenecks along the way, and the actions that need to be taken. It is essential to be honest in case you are facing any problems so that your professor can help you out. If you are experiencing difficulties with the analysis of results and discussion of data, you can request a meeting to seek clarification on the methods. It is also effective to come to the meeting with specific questions or sample data which would increase the efficiency of the meeting.
Research is a quest for knowledge. Sometimes this journey may get a little messy. There might be some failures and setbacks along the way. For example, dealing with data can become overwhelming, as one may find oneself dealing with many articles, databases, and notes to manage. Choose a method to work in an organised manner—this may include choosing programs for organising references, such as EndNote or JenniAI, or creating a tracker for tasks and deadlines. Utilise colour-coded folders for raw data, processed data, and literature documents, and always make copies. Always remember that no knowledge or skills gained will go to waste.
Ensuring that an internship is being managed in an organised manner is not easy, especially when one has to balance it with other engagements. Working on time management is essential, which involves establishing your priorities, setting achievable goals, and avoiding procrastination. This applies to efforts related to organisational tasks, where experts advise that one should break up large tasks into more manageable subtasks. If you have a large project that is due, approach it like multiple smaller projects with due dates.
In any research-based internship, understanding the question in hand is very important and literature review helps to understand it completely. The literature review is a vital part of research because it helps identify gaps in the field that you are working on. Therefore, you should dedicate some time to going through all the important papers that are relevant to the project that you are working on. You should summarise important papers while keeping your research questions in focus. During your meetings with the instructor, you can discuss some of these papers to demonstrate your newly developed depth of understanding of the field.
All forms of constructive criticism are of huge help for any researcher. Approach your professor and other students for their comments and try to incorporate their suggestions to improve your work. Any form of feedback helps, as the ultimate aim is the production of research work of the very best quality. You should not be offended by any criticism of your work. Should your professor ask you to revise specific parts of your work, always consider this to be a good learning opportunity.
Your research may entail working with big data, making sense of it, and coming up with fruitful findings. Therefore, you should regularly spend time in mastering and improving your data analysis skills. Your work may also require using statistical techniques, programming, or certain research applications. If statistical analysis is required, please ensure that you are familiar with software such as SPSS or R. If required, you may enroll for an online course to increase your programming competence.
Documenting the process of research is also an extremely important part of the journey. It operationally covers notes of experiments/observations, data logs, and results. Sourcing, documenting, and archiving will help you later when you work on reports and publish your findings. Keep noting down details of your daily progress while focusing on the experiments you conducted, your observations and results, as well as the data that you have logged. Summarise everything that you do daily, while focusing on the challenges you faced and the final results you arrived at.
It is not rare for a researcher to work hand-in-hand with another person or a group of people. Make use of any chance that presents you with possibilities to collaborate with other students, researchers, or other professionals. Networking is always important as it provides you with new ideas and support, besides opening up new opportunities for you in the future. To enhance your knowledge, you should attend seminars, workshops, and conferences that are in your line of work. Workshops and conferences help you know your area of interest better and also have fruitful conversations with other researchers.
Always seek out additional learning opportunities that go beyond your immediate research work. This could include taking online courses or attending workshops and seminars that can broaden your skill set and knowledge base. If your research involves using a specific technique that you are unfamiliar with, find a relevant online tutorial or ask your professor if you can attend a workshop that focuses on teaching that technique.
While it is important to be dedicated to your internship, maintaining a balanced approach is also crucial. You should ensure that you are also taking care of your physical and mental health. A well-rested and healthy mind is far more productive and creative. Schedule regular breaks during your workday, maintain a healthy diet, exercise regularly, and ensure you get adequate sleep.
Towards the end of your internship, take some time to reflect on your experience. Think about the skills that you have developed and the challenges that you encountered. How has this experience influenced your career goals? Write a reflective piece summarising your internship journey, the skills that you acquired, and the insights that you gained. This can be a valuable addition to your portfolio.
A research internship under a professor’s supervision can be a transformative experience. By understanding the scope of work involved, communicating effectively, staying organised, engaging with the literature, being open to feedback, and practising effective time management, you can make the most of this opportunity. Remember that the goal is not just to produce excellent research, but also to grow as a scholar and a professional. Embrace the challenges, celebrate your successes, and take full advantage of the learning opportunities available to you.
