Best picnic spot near Cambridge–Killian Court, MIT!

On a day that could only be described as “an 11 on a scale of 10”, Killian Court was a perfect spot for a picnic lunch! The EECS department head along with EECS faculty, staff, and current graduate students welcomed 16 undergraduate interns visiting MIT as part of the MIT Summer Research Program (MSRP) on July 3rd.

MSRP is a large, and growing, summer research program spanning 9 weeks (June 2-August 11) where 97 undergraduate interns are matched with a graduate student mentor and hosted by MIT faculty in various laboratories across campus. The program is intense with interns expected to work in the lab 40 hours per week, attend departmental information sessions, participate in professional development activities, and attend research seminars. Interns work hard in the lab on their own research projects with communication deliverables including a research proposal, progress reports, and a final research poster highlighting their research findings; in their free time, interns even work on crafting various essays that will be part of their application to graduate school due later in the fall.

Department Head Asu Ozdaglar relaxes with MSRP participants.

EECS faculty are hosting 10 MSRP interns this summer, and so far, the department has offered:

  • an information session highlighting the doctoral graduate application process with the chair of graduate admissions
  • a conversation with the EECS department head about the research directions of EECS describing where the department is heading
  • an upcoming in-person laboratory tour of the Quantum Systems Laboratory
  • and, of course, a relaxing conversation during the picnic lunch. (Everyone must take a break for lunch and fortunately the MSRP interns said yes to our invitation!)

When posed the question “now that you are living and working at MIT, what surprised you about this place, or what is different than what you anticipated about MIT?” The replies from the interns included: “Everyone is so nice…from faculty all the way through the janitorial staff…everyone is willing to lend a hand in even the smallest circumstances.” “The transparency at MIT is great… mentors are very willing to talk about how the journey through research is not a straight line of success and they are willing to share their own experiences.” “I expected a very serious and stuffy environment, but everyone is very welcoming and collaborative.” Other comments included: “It’s okay to ask questions and ask for help.” “It is amazing that everyone in the lab knows your name.”

Of course, MIT has its downsides with remarks like “Cement buildings have no romance.” “There are mice everywhere!” “There are so few restaurants by my dorm (Burton-Connor), and I have to walk all the way to Kendall to get food.”

With our current PhD student hosts, the conversation included what it is like being a graduate student. Lots of great advice was shared, showing that great determination is needed and resilience too, as the journey is long (like a marathon). A grad student remarked “you get a PhD when you know something that no one else in the world knows, and you are the only one that has figured out the solution.” The current graduate students urged balance too; make sure to take care of yourself and to have fun as there are lots of great things to do in New England.

In sum–a short break on a perfect summer day at MIT enjoying a picnic on Killian Court with colleagues and friends!

Now, back to the lab; there is more research to do!

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