Well …
I have just finished my Master’s
degree in chemistry at the TU Dresden (actually 9 hours ago) and going to start
my PhD this year at the IFW Dresden. A few weeks after I came back to Germany from
my study abroad year at the UOW in Australia (07/2012 – 07/2013), I felt like going abroad
again - not for so long yet, a few months maybe, but not just travelling. It is so great to really experience a new
place and not just to see it. Coming closer to the end of my degree, I realized,
that even though I had done a lot of things, there was still much more to do and
it won’t become easier once I finish my studies …
Then, I found out about the blind applying campaign coming up on my fb news stream because I had liked career pages of some German chemical companies. The program offered international internships at well-known companies from the chemistry sector (among others) as well as a scholarship for travel and housing costs. All you needed to do was to register at the entrypark website and to upload a CV. I thought the chance to get one of the internships is really low as there will be many applicants and chemical manufacturers will probably use the campaign to get some “blind” applicants for their “non-chemistry departments” who would usually not think of them as potential employer. But because it is not a lot of effort to write a CV, I still wanted to try.
(Of course, at the end, it took me ages to prepare my CV :D – thinking of every single keyword – and if it is the most suitable one, if it is a real English expression and not just to English translated German – and finding my solution to the problem if English CV means a German CV in English (as it is for German companies) or a British CV with all the funny sentences where you explain the HR staff, what they should conclude from the points with actual content ^^ - I mixed it.)
So I blind-applied.
In early December, I got an email
saying Evonik wants to interview me for an internship at their research and
development department for light and electronics in Taiwan. The telephone
interview was quite interesting not only because I got some more information
about my possible internship but also because I got an impression about how a
R&D department of a big company is structured and how they try to get new
materials ready for the market.
I was keen to live in a country,
where I had never been before, and to get some insights into
industry research. During my chemistry studies, I have worked on a few research
projects (mainly concerning electrochemistry related topics, e. g. materials
for electrochemical pseudocapacitors and solar cells) which, of course, intended to
contribute to applications (one day ^^) but were more of fundamental
character. This makes research very exciting as you have the chance to
investigate what is really happening in your material and to start
understanding things. On the other hand, it is sometimes a bit frustrating as
you do not get an(y) outcome for longer periods of time. At uni, lecturers
always tell us industry research is pretty boring, mainly using the method of
trial and error, but better paid. Furthermore, permanent positions for
scientific staff at universities and research institutes are reduced more and
more in Germany. So, let’s get my own impression about industrial research
hopefully making the decision between academics and industry, I have to make some
when after my PhD, easier! There will be no better chance to work for a short
period of time for a renowned company abroad.
Buuuut anyway, there are some
negative aspects about an internship abroad as well. First problem: financing. Luckily,
accommodation in Hsinchu is provided by Evonik and there is also a remuneration
for the internship (but certainly less than I would get if I started the work
for my PhD already not to talk of a real job ^^). A scholarship for a part of the flight costs will be paid by Entrypark in
June. Still, there is a not insignificant amount of money which has to be
(pre)paid (e. g. flights (ca. 800 €), visa (ca. 100 €), immunization (ca. 200 €),
…), you should think about. When you go so far away from home, you leave a
lot of important people in your life behind and you cannot know, how many things
will have changed when you come back. Moreover, I cannot speak any word
Chinese neither Mandarin nor, least of all, Taiwanese which will make it quite
hard to live there and to connect to local people. And I hate all kinds of fish
and seafood. I cannot even swallow most of it, which is usually a problem when staying
on an island ^^.
When I got the acceptance for the
internship, the decision was finally made in the very first second after: Of
course, I will do it.
So
from the 14th of April on, I will be doing an internship at Evonik’s
department in Taiwan. I hope to learn a lot about
applied materials research in industry, about the field of inorganic
nanoparticle coatings and about the country and its
people. I am worried about being lonely in a foreign culture, about becoming a
bored lab rat and about being hungry ^^.
I will see and let you know.
