Question about research experience

[asianengineer]

Hi guys, I am an engineering student from the University of Hong Kong. I wanted to ask you a few questions about research experience.

 

1. What exactly counts as research experience?

 

So far I have completed one white paper which has been submitted to the HK government, may or may not be published, a term research paper on biomedical instrumentation, and a final year research project using signal processing. Which of these are considered 'valid' research experience?

 

2. Is it necessary for these to be in the program you are applying for?

 

One paper is in robotics, another is on lab-on-chip systems, and the third is on brain computer interfaces. I'm applying for a MS or MEng in BME probably specializing in electronics or imaging.

 

3. Can internships make up for a lack of experience?

 

So far I have completed three internships, one in a robotics startup, and two in large pharmaceutical exporters. They were not research based, but quite useful for learning industrial skills.

 

Thanks for your time. Quite a long post xD.

 

Any advice will be appreciated.

[juilletmercredi]

1. This will vary from person to person, but generally research experience is research that you did outside of the requirements of a specific class, something that helped you learn the conventions of scientific practice in your field.  Writing a term paper for a senior-level class, in and of itself, is not the kind of research experience that departments are looking for.  Turning that paper into a published article, or expanding upon it by doing empirical science with a professor, that's research experience.  In your case, the final year research project probably "counts"; the term paper probably doesn't, unless you did it as part of an independent study project; the white paper is debatable.  Depends on the content and who's reviewing your application.

 

2. No, although the closer you get the better.

 

3. Probably yes for master's programs.  Not really for PhD programs.