Hi, I’m Callum, a first-year Computer Science and Maths student. I have just finished my first month as a research intern with the REVEAL research centre within the Computer Science Department here at Bath. It’s been an incredible experience so far, so I wanted to share what I’ve been up to and encourage anyone curious about academic research to get involved if you can.
Finding this opportunity
Having started on this project in June, right after my exams ended, I wasn’t sure what to expect. I had begun to lose hope over getting something for the summer and I was still applying for different roles in April. Fortunately the Computer Science (CS) department sent out an email letting us know about the opportunity to get involved in different fully-funded research projects over summer, and I decided to apply to one of them. Getting the email letting me know I had been accepted was a complete surprise, but I was overjoyed.
To be completely honest, I went into this knowing next to nothing about this specific field. I had never really done research before, and looking at the project description felt like a massive leap. However, I found it really interesting, and I quickly realised after having started that you aren’t expected to be an expert on day one.
My experience with this project
The project I’m contributing to is called EmoSense. Specifically, I’m focusing on predicting human emotions using vital signs collected from consumer wearables. I had never worked with this kind of technology before, but it has been a fantastic experience to experiment with it, figure out how it all works, and see the concepts that we’re taught in lectures be applied to real-world problems with tangible results.
While I really expected diving straight into the deep end to be daunting, I’ve really enjoyed the independence to learn and explore. Plus, my supervisor has been providing me with constant help and guidance if I ever hit a wall or need some feedback on any ideas or solutions I’m trying out.
What I’ve been working on
Despite the project being heavily focused on Computer Science, I’ve had the opportunity to apply skills from both aspects of my joint degree.
On the CS side, my background is in web development, so stepping into mobile and systems development was new. It’s been great to learn and play around with new programming languages like C# and Kotlin, alongside new libraries for languages I already knew.
On the maths side, I’ve been involved in data collection, analysis and prediction models, pulling directly from the probability, statistics and AI lectures to try and make sense of the biometric data.
Summer life in Bath
Outside of the project itself, spending the summer in Bath has been a massive bonus. Our city is beautiful, and even better when the sun is actually out! I’ve explored a lot of places I haven’t yet had the chance to see, and what’s even better is that a lot of it is free or discounted with a student card.
I wasn’t sure how campus would feel after everyone had gone home, but it’s actually been great. I’ve had the chance to meet and connect with other summer interns both within and outside my department, and there’s a real sense of community here, since you see the same faces around. Plus, you get the advantage of no queues for the buses, actually being able to find a table available in Lime Tree and the campus gym being quiet too!
My advice to anyone interested in research
If you are considering any kind of research internship, whether it be something you’re really passionate about or a field you want to get into but know nothing about, don’t let imposter syndrome hold you back. Coming into this, I know that I felt like I had no chance of getting accepted because I didn’t think I had much relevant experience.
But the most important thing I’ve learned is that it isn’t your past experience that matters the most. What actually matters is being willing and eager to learn, and applying what you already know to new challenges. As a first-year, it’s easy to think you don’t know enough to contribute to this kind of research. In reality, the whole point of an internship like this is for you to learn, adapt and absorb new information, and ask questions along the way (trust me, I have asked so many questions!). If you show up with a strong work ethic and a drive to learn and challenge yourself, you will pick up skills faster than you think.
I am so grateful I decided to apply for this opportunity. It has been invaluable to me and I genuinely couldn’t recommend it enough. For anyone looking for something similar, look out for emails from your department or your lecturers, and even talk to people at the university whose area of expertise you find interesting. You never know what could come of it, you just have to go for it, even if you feel like you don’t know enough. It’s all about being ready to learn.
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