In the summer of 2011, I was very fortunate to be granted the opportunity to participate in an internship at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, in Karlsruhe, Germany. Knowing that as an international student, there is a limit to the types of internship I could apply for, Dr. Classen was very kind to inform me about the German-American Internship Program for Students. It functions similar to an employment recruiter as they match the applicant’s credentials to various companies and institutions. With the assistance of Dr. Classen and Professor Gramling, I was able to construct my cover letter and resumé in German, and was successfully accepted into a research internship at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) after having a phone interview with the coordinator of the internship program.
Before my arrival in Germany, the registration process was lengthy and made even more inefficient due to the time difference. While I only had less than a month to complete the visa application and apartment search, I was lucky to have received a lot of support from both my professors at the University of Arizona, and the international office at KIT. As it was my second time in Germany, I did not experience much trouble in travelling around the city, and was able to get help from the locals with my German (I had completed up to GER 301 at the time of my internship). Since Karlsruhe is a relatively small city, there are not many tourists, and the locals spoke minimal English – which is ideal from the perspective of improving my German.
For my internship, I worked under the supervision of Frau Dr. Ursel Hornung and Herr Daniel Forchheim on a biochemistry research involving the conversion of phenol from lignin. My task was to perform an economic analysis of the research. It was challenging for me as I did not have extensive background in biochemistry, and I had to carry out a lot of literature reviews on my own. Furthermore, since the research is still in process, my supervisors may not always have the answers to my questions; and could not give me a clear direction for my assignment. However, as I familiarized myself with the research content, I was able to work much more independently. I did not have to work with other interns for my research, although I did have to talk to other professors, technicians, and Ph.D. students at the institute to understand further the research process. From my experience, I gained the impression that my German supervisors were extremely confident of my abilities, and gave me much freedom in performing the work. They rarely checked on my work progress, and trusted that I would deliver the work to them by the end of my internship. I was also surprised that they spoke with me informally. Overall, my internship in Germany consisted mostly of independent work, and I took responsibility for my own work progress.
As far as free time is concerned, since it is a five-day work week, I had the opportunity to travel to different cities during the weekend. After starting the internship, I found out that there were (a surprising number of) public holidays, which gave me even more time to travel around. Hence, it is definitely a good idea to plan ahead and book the train tickets in advance for better deals. I was also lucky to have kind-hearted, amicable landlords and roommate, whom I became very close to. My roommate actually invited me to her house in the Black Forest during a long weekend, and it was a truly memorable experience.
In all, it was rewarding to do an internship in Germany, and I would definitely recommend others to take up the opportunity to study or work abroad. Not only did I have the chance to apply my German in daily situations, it is priceless to be immersed in the culture and to interact with the locals. I treasure the friendships I have forged, and I look forward to returning to Germany for another internship or work venture.
I would also like to take this opportunity to express my heartfelt gratitude to Dr. Classen, for his continuous support from the application process to the end of the internship; Dr. Gramling, for his assistance in preparing me for the internship, and my family for supporting me to take up this learning opportunity.