Each spring semester, it feels like many of us find ourselves scrambling to find unique, competitive, and exciting research experiences. In these intense weeks full of interviews, rejections, and offers, it is also important to think ahead about what comes next. Although staying connected with your research team after a program or internship ends can present a unique set of challenges, it can just as easily open up a number of new opportunities. This was a dynamic I had to adjust to at the end of my research internship last summer. Through that personal experience, I have found that consistent and clear communication are key after any research experience.
A Terrestrial Radar Interferometry (TRI) station overlooking Echo Glacier — a field site used by NASA as an analog environment to the moon Europa.Photo credit: Advik Eswaran.
Students across a variety of disciplines (or fields, if you will) have the opportunity to perform fieldwork at Princeton. In contrast to lab work—which involves performing experiments or analyses within a controlled on-campus environment—fieldwork takes place, well, in the field. Researchers venture out into the wide, wild world in pursuit of somehow collecting useful data from the vast webs of chaos that surround them. In my home department of the Geosciences, fieldwork is the norm: students go out to geological field camps or embark on oceanographic cruises to gather data about the raw Earth that surrounds us. However, fieldwork is truly possible in any discipline.
This past summer, I conducted my own fieldwork as part of the Juneau Icefield Research Program (JIRP). For two months, I lived and conducted glaciology research with about 40 other students, staff, and faculty on the glaciers of the Juneau Icefield—an interconnected system of over 140 glaciers spanning 1500 square miles across southern Alaska and northern Canada. It was one of the most incredible—and intellectually rewarding—experiences of my life. Here, I’ll share some stories from my time on the Icefield, contextualizing them within some broader lessons I learned about how field research operates.
Spotlighting the experiences of the 2023 IIP Virtual Poster Winners
Several of the winning virtual posters from the 2023 IIP Program
Applications are currently open for the 2025 Summer International Internship Program (IIP)! This incredible program connects 1st, 2nd, and 3rd year students with an international institution for ~8 weeks to pursue a project that allows them to explore different careers, cultures, and workplace environments. Many of these projects empower students to take on various research endeavors, learn new research skills, and apply their research findings to make an impact on global communities. Here are several spotlights of Princeton students who shared their internship experiences and were winners of the 2023 IIP Virtual Posters. You can also view all of the poster reflections.
Spotlight on the Summer Internship Project of Princeton Politics Junior Mai Kasemsawade
Mai Kasemsawade at the All-Party Parliamentary Group Malaysia for Political Financing meeting at the Malaysian Parliament, which she helped to host with The Institute for Democracy and Economic Affairs.
Many students walk into Princeton intending to change the world, Mai Kasemsawade ’26 is an extraordinary example of how one’s summer research can kickstart global political change. This past summer, Mai worked within the The Institute for Democracy and Economic Affairs in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia as an intern in the Princeton International Internship Program. She connected her interests in political science research and data science to pursue an ambitious project in advancing Malaysia’s laws on funding for political parties in order to encourage a more democratic political scene. Her experience meeting with Malaysian government leaders, hosting a political engagement workshop, writing articles on critical policy, and conducting interdisciplinary research exemplifies the multitude of eye-opening opportunities that a research experience can offer!
Fortunately, if you’re stressed out trying to write all of these summer program applications, Princeton has plenty of comfortable study spaces to be working, like Quincy Monday ’23 in the lobby of NCW. Photo Credits: Dan Komoda (2023)
Applying to summer programs can seem like a daunting task when you may not even know what you want to do next summer. The busyness of the semester certainly hasn’t created a ton of time to be thinking about these things! Fortunately, winter break is a great time to work on applications to summer programs, as many of the earlier applications are often due early in the year. Having prepared them beforehand can ease a lot of stress, since the middle of the spring semester isn’t the most convenient time to be starting these applications. These timelines can vary by field, so it could be a bit different based on the type of program you are applying to—the career center has a great timeline of internship recruitment that is sorted by field so you can see the differences. Regardless, it’s great to work on these during the break when you don’t have courses.
You may be looking for something far away, here in Princeton, an industry internship at a company, or a research program at a university. Regardless of if you know exactly what you want to do or still aren’t sure, here are some tips to help you sort through this process.
Some photos from writer Xander Jenkin’s International Internship in Wales, UK. Photo credits: Xander Jenkin (2023)
Last summer, I went abroad on a fully-funded internship doing astrophysics research at Cardiff University, in Cardiff, Wales, UK. This experience not only solidified my career decision to pursue astrophysics research, but also gave me a unique immersion into Wales and Welsh culture as well as the broader United Kingdom. If you are curious about research abroad, read on!
You may not feel as confident as CEE department graduate student Meiqi Yang looks here working on lithium extraction, but as you do more research over time, you’ll feel much more comfortable as you progress. Photo Credit: Bumper DeJesus (2023)
When doing research as an undergraduate, sometimes the work you are doing and topics you study may be very familiar to you, other times you may be totally unfamiliar with what is going on. Maybe you even have some previous experience but the topic of the project is way above anything you’ve done before—you might be working with a physics professor on something really advanced like quantum field theory or condensed matter, which you have never taken a class on and are expected to now work on and understand what’s going on during your project. This can happen a lot in any field, not just STEM, where your professor may have spent years studying something that you are expected to contribute to after having taken maybe a few classes in it, if that. Some professors may work more often with graduate students, so they may assume that you know “basic” things about your field that you as an undergrad have just encountered for the first time: you could be working with an Art History professor who focuses on Late Antiquity, and they start throwing around terms and common symbols that you aren’t able to easily recognize.
Regardless of the circumstances, this situation comes up a lot in undergraduate research. The fortunate thing is that tons of professors are willing to work with students who have no prior experience in the subject, but you still have to wrestle with “catching up” as you try to somewhat understand anything that you’re actually doing. Here are some tips to try to get acclimated with difficult, unfamiliar topics that may be well above your current depth as an undergraduate.
A guide of first steps for women-identifying undergraduate students stepping into research
Every women-identifying undergraduate student has the potential to become an incredible researcher; your journey starts now!
As we step into the new school year, woman-identifying undergraduate students across campus are looking to take their first steps into research. This process can be new, daunting, and sometimes, downright terrifying. It’s scary to step into a room where you are the first, the only, or both. That’s why it’s imperative to support women-identifying students in empowering research communities, advocating for their learning goals, and asserting themselves in new research settings. For allies, there are also important ideas shared by woman-identifying researchers about the best ways to support their success.
We may have wasted no time getting back into the semester after spring break, but just two weeks ago, I was exploring Denmark as a part of the class “Making the Viking Age.” This trip marks the second time I have been lucky enough to travel internationally as part of a class here at Princeton; last fall, I also visited Rome as a part of a group of students who took the Western Humanities Sequence during our first year. With course selection just around the corner, I highly recommend keeping an eye out for courses that include travel, as they have been some of the most academically enriching experiences I have had in all my education thus far.
On campus, Nal Xaviera ’25 is a member of Engineers Without Borders: Kenya, Community House After School Programs, and an assistant for the Visual Resources Department.
College is a wonderful place to explore your interests. It’s a time to meet new people, engage with different disciplines, and explore what you’re truly curious about. Perhaps one of the most apt examples of such opportunities is the Office of International Programs’s International Internship Program (IIP).
