Beyond The Semesters Episode 8: Sumit Kale
Welcome back to episode 8 of Beyond The Semesters, an initiative by the Coding Club, IIT Guwahati where we interview and try to get a peek into the life and work of IIT Guwahati graduates currently working in different fields or pursuing research.
This time we have with us Sumit Kale from the class of 2019. He pursued his BTech in Chemical Sciences and Technology and is currently pursuing a PhD in Chemical Physics with a focus on Quantum information and Computing at Purdue University, USA.
We talked about his experiences in research and how his life has changed significantly from his college days. He gave various insights into the postgraduate/research studies application process. He has also shared his experience as a Quantum Application Research intern at IBM Research.
- Can you explain to our audience briefly about your area of research?
Starting with my journey, I had a background in Chemistry. I worked with a professor who was an expert in quantum chemistry. It all started with quantum chemistry and how quantum mechanics helps us to understand these amazing phenomena. Then, in my third year, I was fortunate enough to get research internship offers, out of which I chose the one in Taiwan, at Academia Sinica. I worked there under a Japanese professor, who was working in spectroscopy. And when I came back quantum computing was something very new, and it felt very exciting to me. A course in physics, in quantum Information at IIT Guwahati, opened these different gates for me and I came to know in detail about Quantum Computing.
2. What did you do during your research internship at IBM?
I have a specialization in Quantum algorithms development and have studied them in the past. I am working towards an application of quantum algorithms to solve electronic structure problems that cannot be approached with classical modules.
3. If an undergraduate student is interested in pursuing research, what should be his/her next steps?
In order to get good research intern offers or PhD admits, you need to show the selection committee that you are interested and capable of pursuing research in that field. You can approach professors in your department and let them know that you are interested in working with them. I am sure they’ll be happy to have you as they don’t have an obligation to pay you. You are kind of a free help to them. Firstly, screen the fields you are interested in working in, approach professors, let them know you are interested, start working on projects, and explore different research topics, if you want you can switch professors or explore different fields as well. What I am saying is that you should have an initial understanding of a research field and you should be able to show that in your CV or your SOP.
So from the action perspective what you can do is you can write down the names of professors and interested fields, and reach out to them
4. What are certain fully funded master/PhD opportunities available?
MITACS does full funding from your flights to accommodation. There is DAAD from Germany and Charpak lab scholarship from the embassy of France. There is one more called SN Bose, which is offered by the Department of Energy of India. They give you the scholarship to go and pursue research for the summer in the US, it’s competitive in the sense that only 50 students are selected from all over India, also only DR-1 and DR-2 get to file the application.
The one which I ended up getting is TIGP(Taiwan International Graduate Program). Apart from this, you can always contact professors on your own, there are many of them who can fund your entire stay and research but it’s very difficult in general to get these opportunities.
There are specific requirements for each of the PhD programs. Typically it’s GRE, TOEFL or IELTS and a good academic standing. Almost all the PhD positions are fully funded. But for Masters fully funded options are very rare in the US.
5. You chose to take a research internship in your third year when most of your peers were after a corporate intern. What exactly made you choose a research intern instead of a conventionally safer option, a corporate intern?
I remember when I was in my third year and the intern season was going on, I sat for internships for some companies. But, as you know it requires competitive prep. When I looked at my friends preparing for such coding tests, I felt like this is not something that I’d be willing to do my entire life. Moreover, I initially wanted to pursue Mathematics and Computing but as you see, I ended up in CST. So, I wanted to take my career forward in something that involves intense Maths and Chemistry, which is exactly what Quantum chemistry is. So, I started to apply for these various research interns like S N Bose, Mitacs, etc and I was fortunate to have an edge, being from IIT Guwahati.
I started exploring research because even if it didn’t work out, I can always come back to campus and prepare for corporate placements. The experience of my first research internship in Taiwan made me feel like this is something that I can pursue in my life. At the beginning of my third year, I emailed a professor asking if he was taking any interns following summers. At that time he didn’t have research funds to host me but he said that he’ll contact me sometime later once his research funds get renewed. And just when I returned from my Internship in Taiwan, I had a PhD offer from Europe by that Professor way before the placement season started. And as you might have expected, I never looked back on the corporate placements. So, keep talking to people around the world whose work you like. You might not always get what you want, but it’s always helpful.
6. What was your experience as a research intern?
As soon as I landed in Taiwan and I met my boss, the first question he asked me was whether I want to publish a paper or explore an entirely different field. A suggestion that I would like to give all the undergrads at IIT Guwahati is if you are doing research, rather than focusing on publishing a paper, you should always focus on exploring new topics because being an undergrad, there is no obligation for you to publish a paper, so you should explore new topics so that you can learn about current research situation as well as which topics genuinely interest you the most. My answer to him was as of now I am not interested in publishing a paper and I would like to explore an entirely different field.
So he proposed a project, and I wouldn’t get into the details, which was kind of his dream project but he couldn’t get a Ph.D.student to work on the same. He told me you are an undergrad and I have no expectations as such, it’s a really difficult project, but you said that you want to explore this topic, so this is the project for you. It was really difficult for the initial few days and weeks but later on, I enjoyed the entire process, the whole mathematical concepts going on in the background of chemistry, and I finished the project, it was an amazing experience.
The PIs’ in the lab don’t directly answer your questions, they will give you certain suggestions on the basis of different schools of thought, and you will have to figure out the solution to your problem. It’s really a spiritual journey where nobody is answering your questions, you are answering your own questions based on the given hints, which is pretty different from the typical education you get. Here nobody concretely knows the right answer to anything as it is an entirely new topic. You are researching something entirely new, not known to the world, you are generating knowledge which can possibly be used as an application in real life or be used by the research community to develop their own new techniques. So all in all it’s a very different journey.
7. Did you ever think what if it doesn’t work out?
The thought is scary but if you love the field you are in, you are allowed to make mistakes, it doesn’t matter if it didn’t work out, but you tried and a good researcher is someone who knows when to stop. If you get no results after working on a project for a long time, no matter how much you believe in the concept or the idea, you need to detach from that project emotionally and get over.
So, yes it is scary but it hasn’t happened to me yet, whatever projects I have worked on, I have been able to finish them. The reason might be that I am at an early stage of my career and I have many mentors who could help me. n research you work till you’re in your 80s and 90s, the forward you the more of an expert you’ll become, researchers age like a fine wine.
8. What would you say about the competitiveness at Purdue University and how it compares to IIT Guwahati?
Being honest the CGPA at Purdue doesn’t matter as much as IIT Guwahati. Even though it is a representation of you being a good candidate and shows your sincerity. Still, I would say the competitiveness is more at IIT with respect to academics
9. Why did you prefer going for a PhD instead of a master's?
The main reason for me opting for a PhD was that at that time, there were not any programs for masters in quantum computing even in the US. It was more of a field to be discovered which motivated me to opt for a PhD. Alternatively, Masters in the US are usually very expensive programs as education is not subsidized for international students. Getting into a fully funded program is tough even for a PhD and a master's is even tougher. Even though I would have gotten into a Master's program for 2 years, I was sure I would have proceeded to go for a PhD later.
I didn’t know that earlier but there are ways to reduce your expenses during master's. For example if you are studying at a public university in the US and you get a Teaching/Research assistantship you are eligible for a full tuition waiver (largest expense). Also, you can find other jobs on campus which might help you with your day-to-day expenses.
10. You have ventured into a lot of new fields, what is your approach to gathering new knowledge?
Whenever I start learning something new, I usually pick up books that are for dummies and build up knowledge from the basic level. I believe it is all about consistency and the push to learn new things that help you become better.
11. You seem to be a Potterhead according to your FB handle, what is your favourite book/movie of the entire Harry Potter series?
My favourite movie is “Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban”, the reason being, it is the only movie where Harry and the dark lord don’t duel with each other. Moreover, it is in this very movie that Harry unites with his godfather, Sirius Black that gives it a happy ending. My favourite book is Harry Potter and the Order of Phoenix, the reason being, it has got a really interesting plot although it’s quite a long read. Also, being a true Harry Potter fan, I own Harry’s wand (subtle flex).
It was a great experience for us to interact with him, and we hope that you enjoyed reading about his amazing journey!
