SURA ("Summer Undergraduate Research Award") is a program designed to encourage research and development activities among undergraduate students. The Industrial Research & Development Unit (IRD) at IIT Delhi invites project proposals for this award every year, providing students with an opportunity to engage in research during the summer. The program aims to foster a culture of research and innovation among undergraduate students at IIT Delhi.
It is basically a formal research program at the institute itself, where 2nd year undergraduates make proposals for research projects, work on them during the summer under the supervision of a professor leading to building of a research prototype / publication of a paper etc.
It is a formal program in the sense that you are awarded a stipend for your work, funds for your project and an award/certificate at the end.
The process typically starts with a mail from the IRD inviting proposals. The timeline is roughly as follows:
- January - mail from IRD inviting proposals
- February - proposal deadline
- April - presentation of proposal
- May - selection of projects
- May - July - project work during summer break
- July - October - project work after summer break (if needed)
- October - submission of project progress report
- January (next year) - final award after evaluation of project work through report / presentation
- 2nd year undergraduates (4th semester)
- CGPA >= 7.5
- Exposure to research
- 2 design credits (which are a required non-graded degree requirement which can be completed through other ways also)
- Potentially build a research prototype
- Potentially leading to a publication
- Learning technical skills apart from course-work
- CV point
- Build a good rapport with your advisor and get a good LoR from him/her later on
- Can be extended to COD in 5th semester (graded DE)
- Exposure to research facilities on campus (HPC, research labs etc.)
- Work from campus for those who don't want to/can't travel
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Find an area of interest, broadly there are 3 areas:
- Theoretical Computer Science
- Systems
- Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning
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You don't need to know an exact problem/sub-area to work on, the best thing to do is to see professors working in your field of interest and read about what they are working on
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Identify which professors you want to work with
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Mail professors about your interest to work on a research project with them
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You can also contact professors with ideas of your own about what problem you to work on. This is rare because:
- you typically don't know what you want to work on
- you don't have the background to formulate a good research problem
- Professors typically have exsiting problems that they are working on and are unwilling to start/mentor new projects
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It is advisable to mail professors as early as possible because there are limited project opening for 2nd year students. For eg. many students mail profs during the winter break
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If the professor is willing to work with you, he will probably meet with you, discuss your interests and open projects in his/her group, eventually you'll choose or just get to know what project to work on
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You need to build a proposal for SURA around the problem statement/project
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The aim of the proposal is for the committee to make sure:
- you have a clear problem statement to work on
- you have some idea about how you'll approach the problem and have some background knowledge about the area
- that the problem is feasible in terms of time/resources/expertise needed
- that the problem is not too easy/doesn't involve much work
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You'll need to do some background reading/have discussions with your professor/PhD students to get an idea about how to build the proposal
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The proposal should contain
- A title
- Name, Entry Number, Deptt., Contact No., CGPA of students and details of advisor
- Objective
- Approach with emphasis on novelty and research aspect
- Budget, resources needed
- Rough Timline for the project
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Prefferably use LaTex to make your proposal
- Clear expectations from you with your advisor before stating your project. for eg. let him know in advance (after initial project discussions) that you might have to take some time off for your OCS internship season
- Work on a project in a field of your interest
- Try to talk with 2-3 profs and figure out what project and which professor you like the most
- All most every year all project proposals submitted are accepted. The biggest reason for rejection is multiple groups applying for SURA under the same prof, in which case the committee has to choose at most one of them
Q: Do I need to have a problem statement ready before approaching a professor ?
A: NO, in most cases the professor gives you a project/problem statement
Q: Do I need to work in a group ?
A: NO, but it is recommended
Q: Do I need to have background knowledge/experience for the project ?
A: NO, but it is recommended and you will have to do background reading before starting the project anyways
Q: Can I work with a professor not from my department ?
A: YES, ideally you should work with a professor working in an area of your interest (irrespective of department), if you have a choice it is advisable to work with a professor in your department
Q: What happens if multiple groups submit a proposal and have the same supervisor?
A: At most one of them would get SURA, the other group will be rejected. This is decided by the committee after evaluating the proposal and presentation
Q: Do I need to complete the project if I start it? Q: Alternatively Can I backout from SURA once selected?
A: NO, you can choose not to submit the final project progress report (after summer break), in which case you will not be awarded SURA/funding/stipend. It is advisable to take your project to completion. Also because this is not a graded course this doesn't affect your CGPA but it can damage your relation with your advisor and your team-mate.
You can tell your supervisor that you wish to discontinue SURA (for whatever reasons) and then go on to not submit the final progress report. Everything else written above applies.
Q: When is SURA awarded ?
A: Proposals are accepted before the summer break, SURA is awarded after the summer break after the projects are completed successfully (as judged by the committee)
Q: What does a professor expect while approaching him for a project ?
A: This is subjective and depends on the project and prof but typically the following help:
- Interest in area of research
- Background Experience (courses/internships/projects)
- Prior Course Work with him/her
- Good grades in specific courses, CGPA
- Good motivation behind doing the project
- Willingness for a long term committment (through graded courses) to complete the project
- Some professors don't have project openings or don't take second year students for SURA in which case nothing helps
In any case you should not self-reject yourself and try to contact whichever your prof. you want depending on your interests. Try to write the email keeping the above points in mind and showcasing your best. Keep the email short and to the point.
Q: SURA vs Foreign Research Intern ?
A: This is subjective but you can decide for yourself keeping the following things in mind
- Do you want to travel abroad ? Most people enjoy the offline abroad experience more than working on campus
- Getting SURA is a much more streamlined process unlike getting a good foreign research intern
- Experience of an online foreign research intern is typically not good, SURA is much better being offline. (a subjective general opinion and depends on your case)
- A good offline research intern is probably a better CV point, but what is more important is what you get out of the project and what you learn from it. In the long run it is not about filling your CV with glitter but getting better and understanding your interests through exploration
- Technical Companies during the OCS internship season don't seem to care much about your CV points and care more about your performance in their tests, CGPA etc (subjective general opinion depends on case to case basis)
- Staying on campus means you don't miss out any OCS activities/ intern prep for 3rd year which might not be the case if you go for a foreign intern
Q: Can we get a SURA if we don't meet the CGPA requirements
A: Typically No, but you can try to reach out to the IRD for relaxation of the eligibility criterion
Q Can any prof. recommend our name for SURA ?
A: Professors don't recommend names, you have to approach them build a proposal and submit it and present it infront of the committee. Every SURA project needs atleast one advisor. You can work wtih any prof as per your interests irrespective of the department
Q: How long is the project, what is the workload ?
A:
- Formally SURA is expected to be a fulltime project during the summer break i.e. about 5-6 hours per day on average for 2 months.
- But this is not a requirement and typically student's don't work fulltime on the project during the summer break.
- Many students start working (eg. background reading) before the break and also continue to work after the break
- Exact work load depends on the prof and project, some projects are more demanding
- This is also depends on your drive for the project, some students work a lot and some just try to get the project done as quickly as possible
- It is nice to clear expectations from you with your advisor before starting the project
- On average students work (including background reading) for 2-3 hours per day for 3-4 months (including the summer break, some time before it and some time after it)