BNNI SHARP Program at UC Berkeley

MBb8T5 · May 13, 2012, 6:28pm

Hello, I participated in the BNNI SHARP* research program at UC Berkeley summer 2011. Ill share a little of what I know about the program for applicants. I thought it was a great program.

*Stands for Berkeley Nanosciences and Nanoengineering Institute, Summer High-School Apprenticeship Research Program

Who can apply:

There is NO affirmative action to my knowledge.
They say For applicants in the Bay Area can apply [or something to this effect], this simply means apply if you can commute to Berkeley each day. There was one person my year who was an outstanding out-of-state applicant whose dad was doing research there over the summer… he had one some ISEF award the year before, so SHARP let him in. However, anything out-of-bay-area will be done on a case-by-case basis, email SHARP if youre interested.

Competitiveness:

In 2011 ~140 applied, 24 called back for interviews, 14 accepted.
2012: A little bird told me 240 applied for 10 slots.

My year (2011): 9 guys, 5 girls. Most asian/indian, ~5 white, 1 pacific islander (I think).

I can only speak for SHARPies (what we call the programs participants) in 2011, and even then we never passed around resumes & went in a circle telling everyone our GPA/test scores, so my information is incomplete, and is partly speculation. This is simply the impression I got not absolute fact. That being said…

Not all SHARPies had taken the SAT when accepted (PSAT ok instead). Most that had taken it had >2300 (but not all), many >2350, and 2-3 2400s. I get the impression that most had near 4.0s. I do not think most had previous research experience, although some did. Programming experience is unnecessary, although it will help for a few of the research topics.

In comparison to other programs: I got into SHARP but not RSI, SIMR, or UCSF-BHSI. That being said, SHARP got twice as competitive this year, so by acceptance rate it is on par with SIMR (Im doing SIMR this summer).

In the future (2013 and on), I expect SHARP will continue to get more competitive… if you think you may have a chance of getting in, then by all means apply, it is a great program. In 2011 I got in with very good grades/test scores/LORs/Extracurriculars. Had I applied in 2012, I think its unlikely I would have been accepted without previous research experience/no major awards. I do not mean to discourage you from applying; rather, make sure you have backup plans/other programs (COSMOS, as one example) if you dont get in. Anecdotally, when I applied to summer programs the year after SHARP as a HS senior, I applied to 8 internships. I was rejected from 5 before getting an offer from SIMR.

The Research Experience:

Who you work with:
You will be working with a graduate student (PhD track) mentor. Almost all mentors do a good job teaching you and having you actively involved in the research process; this program is to teach & benefit YOU, the intern. You will NOT be washing test tubes the whole summer. You will be doing real research so to speak: youll be working on a project related to your mentors research, most do a good job breaking off a chunk of their long-term research that you can tackle and make some progress on in a month. Some projects give you lots of independence; others are more structured. It depends on you, your mentor, and the project.

The research topics: It varies depending on the mentors that are available. While not all projects are directly in nanotechnology, most of them are closely related to it.

Out of 14 topics, some included:

Solely computer-based: ~4. Mostly computer simulations for light/optics research. For example, in my research project I used simulations to design tiny, ultra-reflective mirrors and model a microscopic waveguide (something that guides light, similar to a fiber optics cable).
Biology in the lab: ~3. Included one doing protein purification, one with optical tweezers, another hydrogen production using bacteria.
Hands-on: ~2 One built a motor system & control pad for a SEM microscope… lots of electrical engineering (soldering, putting components together, programming a touch screen). Another built springs for some application…
Other projects:
–the seebeck effect (temperature differences create a potential difference in metals, which can be used to generate electricity from heat)
–plasmon resonance
–microfluidics (designing chips that you could put a drop of blood on and then do hundreds of analyses on one chip… I think this involved some CADding.)
–something with femtosecond lasers

Outside of research:

Your rough schedule:
Mon-Thurs: Class 830-10. Research with mentor 10-5 (end time flexible, many stay later by choice) with a lunch break 12-1 (lunch break is flexible).
Fri: 830-5 Other activities (Tour of the Berkeley labs, botanical gardens, group labs [making solar cells, playing with liquid nitrogen], frisbee…)

Class 830-10: This is with all the interns and a volunteer High School teacher (she teaches AP chem and is cool & chill).
Includes a campus tour, library tour, one day learning MATLAB, ~two days doing electronics/circuits. Also:
Some days you practice giving powerpoints, on your research topic, or on lab safety, or you research some random science topic and talk about that. While it isnt the most exciting activity, practicing giving powerpoints is very useful. Researchers present many of their findings via powerpoint, powerpoint is a MUST-KNOW skill, plus all SHARPies give a 15 minute powerpoint on their research at the end of the program to ~60 other people, so these short 2-3 minute powerpoints are good practice.

Socially:
One of the best things about SHARP is the social aspect. Before I started, I was worried that Id be inside a lab all day, never meet or talk to the other interns, and be isolated the entire time. The opposite is true at SHARP. During the 1.5hours of class in the morning, you will get to know the other interns. Most interns will voluntarily gather for lunch & eat together. On most Fridays, there will be 1-2 hours scheduled for you to play frisbee with the other interns. On every Friday, all the interns informally (outside of the program) got together for dinner, tag, ice cream, movies, or just to chill. You will become very familiar with the other interns, there is a superb close-knit social environment, and even though I loved my research topic, this is my favorite part about SHARP. The other interns are all smart but also chill, and I think us interns have gotten together for 3? reunions since the program ended just to hang out.

After SHARP:
Not many SHARPies enter their research into science fairs (not that I know of). The program is a bit short–4 weeks-- to get stellar, original results. However, a few (1 or 2?) interns will continue researching after the program (I continued doing computer simulations from home for two weeks), although this will depend completely upon your mentor. And if you do get good results, there is no reason you cannot enter them into a science fair competition.

SHARP (and other research internships) look EXTREMELY GOOD on your resume, and SHARP is fairly competitive to begin with. Most SHARPies go on to good schools. From 2011 we had:
Harvard (2), Stanford (3), MIT (2), Berkeley (2), Brown (2), Johns Hopkins (1), Swarthmore (1), and USC (1).

As a summary:

SHARP is very competitive. By all means apply, but unless you have an outstanding resume, have backup plans. Colleges look heavily at what you do the summer between junior-senior years, so make sure that if youre rejected (which will happen to 95% of applicants), that you wont be sitting on your couch all summer.

The research at SHARP is great, you get a taste of what its like to be a grad student, youll be facing the same challenges that grad students face-- this is not like your high school biology labs where you know the answer before you start, and there is a neat procedure. Sometimes you will have a computer bug that will drive you crazy and take hours to fix; sometimes youll spill your purified protein and have to redo three days of work. This is the nature of research; if you dont like it, go get a real job; if you do like it, go cure cancer :P.

The social environment is also great-- SHARPs relatively small size, combined with structured group activities (ie class in the morning and field trips on Fridays) make the social environment stand out from those of other programs.

Although nauseatingly long, I hope this is somewhat helpful… if there is anything I havent addressed, let me know. You can email me at berkeleysharpquestions@gmail[dot]com (note that this forwards to my personal email account-- it is NOT in ANY WAY officially affiliated with the SHARP program). Also, look up Berkeley Sharp 2011 on facebook and message any of the members, and they will most likely be happy to answer your questions.

Cheers!

stylishsmartie · May 13, 2012, 7:14pm

this is really helpful, thanks! my sister went in summer of 2009 and had a great experience as well i’ll definitely be applying next year when I’m a junior!

BNNI SHARP Program at UC Berkeley

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