Kategorie: ‘Research internship’
My Research Internship at the Seoul National University
- Business Administration and Engineering: Mechanical Engineering B.Sc.
- South Korea, Seoul
- Seoul National University
- 10/2025 – 10/2026
1. Preparation and organization of the stay
Gwanak-Gu Mountain
©International Office
– My former supervisor at an institute at RWTH has been working with this specific lab on some projects before and when I mentioned, I was looking for a stay abroad, he made the contact.
– Although almost every Korean learns English since kindergarten, they can´t speak it and are better at texting. Working in an English speaking environment in Korea is therefore more rare than common.
– If you visit the country under 90 days and don´t work/are unpaid, you don´t need a VISA, you need to fill out the e-arrival card
– I found my apartment via 33m2
– For insurance I just added a stay-abroad to my already existing german insurance
– Travel-Arrangements: International Airport is Seoul, Incheon. From there you can go by Airport Bus (10 Euros), Subway (3 Euros) and Uber (20-50 Euros)
2. First steps after arrival:
– My first night was in an hotel, so getting there was my first step
– Hotel-/stay booking over booking.com/Airbnb is much more expensive and you get worse quality. I recommend booking via local platforms.
3. Academic/professional experience:
I did a research internship, where I worked every day. I needed to find my own problem on which no one has ever worked before and then try solving it. I didn´t take any courses and wasn´t an enrolled student. I learned many skills the RWTH doesn´t teach you: Robotics, Sensors, working with hardware, working with Linux, real programming, ROS2…
4. Financing:
N-Tower
©International Office
– Rent: 500-800 euro ( if you are on a real tight budget, you can get a goshiwon for 200 Euros)
– Insurance: ask your German insurance company, mine offers a full coverage for 200-300 Euros for 3 months
– Food: you don´t really cook in Korea. Kitchens are small and shared by many people( in my apartment by 20-25 people). You always eat out. It is common to eat instant ramen in convenience, although they aren´t really nutritious. The University offers many different cafeterias and cheap meals. (Ranging from 1.000 KRW to 12.000 KRW). There are also Burger, Sandwich and Fried Chicken Franchises on Campus. For Dinner you can get many meals for 8000 -14.000 KRW(5 – 8 Euros). Water is always for free at restaurants.
– If you want to go out on the weekends, you should plan 30-60 Euros for one evening. (you usually go to multiple places in one evening)
– Public Transport is pretty good. Try to find a place in 5 min walking distance to a Line 2 station and get a climate card (you can get it at a CU).
– Unless you have a residency card, you won´t be able to get a Korean bank account. Transfers between foreign bank accounts and Korean bank accounts are not possible. There are often places (even Chains) who won´t accept foreign banking cards. So always have some cash or you can load a T-Money Card(from a Convenience Card) with some Cash at subway stations.
– 100 to 200 Euros per month for extra activities
– 100 Euros Buffer
– I would say with everything, plan the upper end of your budget estimates.
5. Leisure:
Seoul is really big. You often need 0,5 to 1 hour for your commute, so just explore all the areas. I also often asked AIs for Tips. This way I often went to places, often locals didn´t know. Many areas have a very distinct character with beautiful Cafés, Bars and Restaurants. Just explore. If you like some sporty activities hike up some “mountains” that are around Seoul or hike to some hidden Buddhistic temples. If you like shopping there are many department stores and malls. There are also ski resorts in 1 to 2 hours distance of Seoul. Clubbing isn´t really a big thing in Seoul, but Karaoke is. So definitely try this one out! For finding places and for your daily commute use Naver Maps (better for finding places) and Kakao Map (better for commuting). Google Maps, Apple Maps,… don´t work in Korea for security reasons.
6. What added value did the stay have for my studies/career prospects?
Starfield Library
©International Office
In German Institutes stuff often needs to be variously planned. Here they try to implement the silicon valley motto: try fast, break fast, improve fast. One thing I haven´t learned yet at my HiWi-Jobs. You are also completely independent and self reliant. If something doesn´t work, it´s your fault, but if something work, it´s your win. So this really shaped my understanding of handling engineering tasks. Just try it out, you´ll figure it out along the way. And this mindset I think should be more implemented in Germany and is something we planning Germans (haha) could benefit from.
7. To what extent does my stay abroad have a sustainable character?
You can realistically only get there by plane, but Seoul has this initiative for some years now to reduce carbon emissions by having a good public transportation (especially if you live near line 2). So completely relying on the subway and busses had a sustainable character. More Over South-Korea gets a lot of the fine dust by wind from North-Korea and China in early spring. Checking out the Air Quality and wearing masks, when it is bad, is recommended.
8. Conclusion:
Hongdae
©International Office
The stay was definitely worth it and I learned a lot regarding to my engineering capabilities. Living and Working in an completely different culture and language is an experience. The now in Germany discussed 4 day work week would be a joke in Korea and is more parttime. People often work 7 days a week, 10 hours a day. I remember once coming to work at 7:30 am and seeing my colleague has already arrived. I asked him, since when he is here. He told me: 10. Me: Oh 10 pm? Did you work through the night? He then continued telling me, he has been working since 10 am yesterday. It wasn´t the last time, I saw him, doing this. So all-nighters because of deadlines and the sheer work load are a thing here and I also had to do it once. (I can relieve you a bit: the expectations for foreigner are lower) Koreans area very hardworking. And if you have the opportunity, I recommend it! It is lots of fun. (if you like some suffering along the way as well 😉)
My research internship at the University of Cambridge
- Chemistry M.Sc.
- United Kingdom, Cambridge
- University of Cambridge
- 10/2025 – 01/2026
Application/Finding an internship
©International Office
At the beginnings of my master’s studies at RWTH, I heard about invaluable experiences and strong recommendations from several students who had gone abroad for university-related stays. Intrigued by these stories, I wanted to combine academically high-impact research with improving my English language skills. Despite the common stereotype about rainy weather, I selected the UK as my host country. As I always have been impressed by the great history of the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge, I applied to three research groups at these universities by emailing the respective professors. Thereby, it gave me planning reliability to commence with the application process one year in advance to the intended time of the stay abroad. Gratifyingly, after one Zoom meeting with the professor, I was offered a research internship position at the University of Cambridge and was allowed to communicate my preferred research topics. Following the offer, I was confronted with a huge bureaucratic burden. However, helpful assistance and some flexibility regarding English language certificates from the host university simplified the process to some extent.
Accomodation & Living expenses
As far as I understood, living in colleges is rather not amenable to short-term visiting students. Hence, I had to search for private accomodation, some of which was advertised on a website of the university. This lowered the risk of scams, but rents of far more than 1000€ for the advertised accomodations were not affordable. Ultimately, I found a suitable accomodation, including a room, private bathroom, and a convenient distance to the uni, via the website “SpareRoom”. I lived together with my British landlord, which turned out to be a great opportunity for learning more about the (pub) culture and the language.
At the very beginning of my stay I realized that the primary means of transportation in Cambridge is the bicycle. Fortunately, the wide availability of second-hand bikes saved me from spending a fortune on a new one. In my experience, discount stores such as Aldi or Lidl are the most convenient options for grocery shopping at prices comparable to those in Germany.
Everyday life / the internship
During the week, I worked at the chemistry department, usually from 9:30 until 18:00. Without strictly fixed working hours, I could call it a day at my own discretion. After long days at work, I normally limited my activities to cooking or going to a gym near my accomodation.
I greatly enjoyed my work in the chemistry department due to the diverse combination of laboratory and office tasks, as well as frequent meetings. Contrarily to my experience with previous research projects conducted in germany, I worked quite independently on the project assigned to me. Initially, this felt unaccustomed, but over time I became increasingly comfortable planning and conducting experiments based on my own ideas. Furthermore, I could always consult my supervisor, and the group members were very supportive, especially in the beginning. Another surprising difference compared to germany, was my strong integration into academic discussions during group meetings. Throughout my stay, I presented my ideas and results every two weeks in a subgroup meeting and twice in the weekly group meeting. This helped me improving my english abilities and my academic communication skills in general.
©International Office
The research group consisted of many interesting personalities from different countries, rendering the group highly international. Since several new members joined the group around the same time as I did, we often shared similar questions and challenges. With the great assistance from experienced members, a group dynamic developed, leading to several evenings spent in pubs, visits to the Christmas market, as well as a trip to London. As a result, the atmosphere in both the laboratory and the office was very pleasant, friendly, and, especially, funny.
Free time / tips
Free time was mostly constrained to the weekends, during which I explored the centre of Cambridge and its impressive college buildings together with friends from the working group or visiting friends and family from Germany. In this regard, I strongly recommend booking a punting tour, during which a guide propels a small wooden boat along the River Cam by pushing a long pole against the riverbed while explaining aspects of the colleges’ history. Further adventures I undertook were trips to Oxford and London. The skyscraper scenery combined with historic landmarks such as the Palace of Westminster, the prominent Elizabeth Tower, and the Buckingham Palace, made the trip to London more than worthwhile. As a tip, the view from Sky Garden – London’s highest public garden at a height of 160 meters – is breathtaking, and, even better, access to the skyscraper is free of charge! Also, visiting the Tower Bridge by entering the towers and the former engine room was a highlight.
©International Office
Conclusion
All in all, it was an invaluable experience and great opportunity to foster both my academic and personal development. From an academic view, I worked independently on a research project, presented my ideas and experimental results in several meetings, and improved my english language abilities as aimed for. Personally, I made new friends from all over the world, experienced the beauty of Cambridge and London, and broadened my horizons by getting in touch with diverse cultures. I am very grateful for the support provided by Erasmus, enabling an adventure I will never forget.
