"You have to make sure that the project fits you"

Andrea Longo got just the research internship he aimed for: at the Hubrecht Institute and working on AI algorithms. His advice for finding a research project: start early, send lots of e-mails and consider what techniques you want to learn or improve.

When looking for a research project, Andrea hoped for a position at the Hubrecht Institute, as he had become interested in their research during his Bachelor studies in Italy. Yet, he also mailed about 20 letters to other labs and received some positive reaction from them as well.

As it turned out, he was invited for interviews about two projects at the Hubrecht Institute. “I think it’s really important in such an interview to discuss everyone’s expectations. You have to make sure that the project fits you.”

I think it’s really important in such an interview to discuss everyone’s expectations. You have to make sure that the project fits you.

In his case, the supervisors asked him what techniques he wanted to improve or learn. For the technical part he aimed to continue improving his expertise on using AI algorithms. But equally so, he wanted to further develop the fundamental experimental approach to problem solving.

Asking for feedback and really discussing it proved to be very worthwhile. “If they said ‘this way you’re not going to prove it’, we had a constructive discussion and came out it together. That has really been a valuable experience for my future career.”

For the future, Andrea considers a role as strategic AI-consultant. The experience in his SBM research project covers both the backgrounds he requires for this, so he is happy he got this opportunity.