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Education and outreach

Education and outreach

Book your busman’s holiday

01 Feb 1999

If you thought a summer job just meant serving beer or cooking hamburgers, think again. A student vacation placement at a scientific lab can boost your career prospects and be a great experience.

When it comes to employing new graduates, scientific institutions are increasingly keen to take on people who have practical scientific experience as well as the academic understanding that a physics degree provides. One way in which undergraduate students can gain this vital experience – and hence improve their job prospects – is by doing work placements at research institutions during their holiday periods.

The benefits can be great. A summer job can help you to learn more about a particular field, and to make decisions about what career you might like to go into. For example, it can help you decide whether to go into academic research and, if so, whether experimental or theoretical work is your forte. It is an opportunity to further your understanding of a particular field, and to find out how “real” scientific work is done. It is a chance for you to explore your interests, make a respectable addition to your CV, and – perhaps more importantly – develop contacts for the future. In today’s competitive job market a vacation placement can give you that vital head start after graduation.

California dreaming

Two summers ago, for example, a group of friends from my degree course and I were selected to go on a programme run by the California Institute of Technology in the US. Known as the Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) scheme, we were each given the chance to spend 10 weeks, fully paid, helping a researcher from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) with their work. We worked on a range of projects, such as analysing spacecraft data, creating Web pages, writing research papers, and preparing educational material for schools.

Although the work was, at times, somewhat dull, the JPL and the field of Earth observation from the Space Shuttle were always interesting. In particular, we were there as JPL’s Pathfinder spacecraft landed on Mars, and we got to see the first “live” pictures from the red planet. Perhaps most importantly, we gained a greater understanding of the space industry and of how real scientific research is carried out. It also proved to be a fantastic travel opportunity!

Most of us experience something at one point in our lives that greatly affects our future. My time at the JPL was one such episode, giving me a greater drive to begin a research career and a better understanding of which field I would enjoy and be most suited to working in.

Benefits for employers

But why should academic institutions and other employers bother to take on vacation students? Won’t they just get in the way? I believe that employers can save valuable staff time by taking on summer students to do some of the relatively simple tasks that would suit an undergraduate. This can even make financial sense, since it frees up time for researchers and postgraduates to concentrate on more demanding tasks. Summer students also bring enthusiasm and new ideas, and their presence gives employers the chance to preview them for potential positions as research assistants or postgraduates. Finally, there is an altruistic reason for taking on students: it maintains student interest in physics, which is important for the future of the subject.

Given the benefits of vacation placements to both employers and students, why are so few students involved in such schemes? Is it because students cannot be bothered to organize them, or is it because research institutions do not recognize the benefits of setting up such schemes? My feeling is that while both sides are partly responsible, it might be easier for students to get the ball rolling. After all, if students tell researchers how enthusiastic they are about work experience and of the benefits it can bring, then perhaps employers will rethink their views.

Setting up a summer placement

There are two main ways in which students can organize a summer job – either do it themselves, or go on one of the many organized student programmes. The latter range from university schemes – like SURF – to programmes run by NASA, CERN and other large research institutes (see box). There are also more general science projects offered by government bodies, such as the UK’s Department of Trade and Industry, as well as specialized schemes like the particle accelerator student programme run by the DESY particle physics lab in Hamburg.

All of these programmes consist of a forum through which academic staff can advertise research projects suitable for undergraduates. The needs of the academics can then be matched with those of the students. The great advantage is that these schemes are largely organized by the employer on behalf of the students, so that things like expenses, visas and sometimes travel and accommodation are taken care of. These programmes are particularly good for newcomers to the work-experience game. Another benefit of organized schemes is that you get to meet many other like-minded students. Downsides include the fact that there is usually a limited range of scientific projects from which to choose – with the more interesting ones being harder to get onto – and that the programmes themselves can be quite hard to find.

The other option is to organize the whole thing yourself. This really can be done! It is possible to search the Web for the companies and organizations that do research on those areas that you want to learn more about and be involved with. By explaining to the relevant person what you can offer them through a short period of work experience, it is perfectly possible to create your own opportunities, particularly if you show enthusiasm and energy.

However, do not be surprised if you have to e-mail a dozen people before you get a positive reply. Most people are prepared to help students who are looking for work experience, but they cannot always create suitable opportunities, which is why enthusiasm is needed to find the right position. It can also take a lot longer to set up your own programme than it does to apply to an organized scheme. However, the rewards can be greater as you get to work on the project of your choice. A colleague of mine, for example, ended up carrying out experimental design work on a fusion propulsion experiment at NASA in this way.

Once your place has been confirmed, things can still be a bit risky. Most summer jobs are not well defined before you start, and the danger is that you could just end up making the tea – although in my experience such a scenario is extremely rare. After all, researchers are usually eager to help students see why their research is interesting.

Get ahead for summer

However you decide to organize a summer placement, now is the time to get the wheels in motion. The key is to have energy and enthusiasm to network, to contact people and to ask them if opportunities exist. It does take effort – there are no two ways about it – and you have to plan a long time ahead. But the rewards very much outweigh the initial effort. Your motto should be: “Nothing ventured, nothing gained.”

Some fantastic opportunities exist. Yes, they can be hard to find – but with enough energy, and by starting early enough in the year, it can be done and, in my opinion, it can be extremely worthwhile. Not only do you learn more about your subject, you are helping science progress, you get to meet people at the forefront of their fields, you get the chance to travel – and make some great contacts for your future career.

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