CERN is the European Organisation for Nuclear Research: yes,I got an opportunity to do an internship at the most advanced scientific research lab on the planet. It was a dream come true to enter the premises of CERN and work here, albeit contributing very little to this large project.
I worked in the ALICE Department on the project of implementing new commands in the AliEn (Alice Environment) Shell. Since it was related to my field of study, I enjoyed my work here. I learnt many things while doing my project, which included learning about grid computing and how the data is distributed worldwide. It gave me the experience of working in the field of research, which will help me in my higher studies.
My supervisor was so intelligent and was perfect in knowledge. It was so inspiring to work with him. Not only did he encourage me about my work but also told me about other exciting things to do, such as mountain hiking, paragliding, scuba-diving etc. and other places to visit. What a wonderful feeling it was to travel daily on CERN bikes from France (where I stayed for two months, in the apartment located close to the French-Swiss border) to Geneva, to go to work!
Attending the seminars and lectures, visiting the experimental sites and ALICE control room all added more interest and inspiration to work. Going at R1 (Restaurant 1 at the main building) for lunch and meeting new people and discussing ideas about the work was so exciting. The barbecues held were very fantastic. It helped to meet more people, colleagues and friends.Everything was so organised and pleasant. Each time it felt like I had learnt some more. During the weekends we used to go Geneva city with friends for summer sightseeing and enjoying Switzerland’s chocolates and food. I even visited Paris, Venice, Austria and Italy on weekends. Europe is such a lovely place.
It is a completely new world inside CERN. Varied in place, culture and thoughts but with a common goal in mind, to unveil the mysteries of physics and understand the universe a little more. Here I met people from all different places: Hungary, Ukraine, Romania, Spain, France, New York and, of course, India. It was such a pleasure meeting people from the world and getting to know their work and background. I had lots of beautiful enriching memories which will be cherished and mesmerized upon for my lifetime.
P.S: If someone is curious about how I got this internship, it is that my college, NIT Durgapur, sends four B.Tech, pre-final year students to CERN every year. It is a college-funded internship and I was really very lucky to get through the interview held at my college.
My article about my experience got published on the CERN's ALICE site too, and here is the link for it http://alicematters.web.cern.ch/?q=Nikita_Agarwal
My article about my experience got published on the CERN's ALICE site too, and here is the link for it http://alicematters.web.cern.ch/?q=Nikita_Agarwal
