Ten students of the National Institute of Technology-Tiruchi (NITT) were exposed to state-of-art laboratories, enriching academic experience, and opportunities to network and interact with specialists in top-notch German institutions under DAAD (German Academic Exchange Service) internship.
The students got the exposure through the DAAD-WISE (Working Internships in Science and Engineering) scholarship, which is for science and engineering students in the third year of undergraduation or those in third or fourth year of dual/integrated programme with aggregate of 85 per cent or above or CGPA (Cumulative Grade Point Average) of 8.5 or above.
About 200 students are selected every year from leading technical institutions in India such as the IITs, NITs, and select universities, said Padmapriya Duraisamy, final-year B. Tech ECE student of NIT-T, who spent two months as a DAAD-WISE 2013 scholar at the Institute of Digital Signal Processing (DSP) in the University of Duisburg-Essen, the third largest technical university in Germany. Her project involved developing an algorithm for blind signal processing for RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) tags.
After the internship, Padmapriya is now one of the 18 scholars from India to be selected by DAAD as Young Ambassador to assist prospective students and scholars aspiring to take up studies or internship in Germany.
Establishing contact with a German professor who has to provide a formal invitation letter and a filled-in approval form is one of the requirements for applying to the programme. The applicant has to submit a completed application form with curriculum vitae, a letter of motivation, transcripts, certificate of enrolment, a no-objection certificate, and reference letters. The selection is based on merit.
Under the programme, DAAD provides a scholarship sufficient to meet the living expenses and a subsidy towards air travel.
The >DAAD website provides information about the programme and application requirements. Deadline for sending applications is usually in the first week of November. Padmapriya’s tips to prospective students is: have clearly stated objectives, identify the right place that suits your interests, establish contacts with prospective German professors.
