MSRA

One afternoon in May 2013, Room 5005 of the Physics and Chemistry Building. I was holding Senior He Yu’s phone, calling Lu Yuanwei, who was in a joint training program at MSRA. Maybe I was too nervous; after the call, both the screen and my hand were covered in sweat. A few days earlier, I received a notification: I was admitted to the MSRA joint training program. I replied that I was working on a startup project and might not have time to go. Microsoft urged me to make a decision quickly. I originally wanted to decline on my own, but I thought I should listen to Boss He’s opinion.

Background: The joint training program between USTC and MSRA opens for applications every April. After resume screening and interviews, about 18 people are admitted. They intern at MSRA for their senior year, and their thesis is also done at MSRA. Among these 18 spots, 14 are for those who will continue their studies domestically, and the remaining 4 are for those going abroad or seeking employment. After two months of internship, around early September, about 7 out of the 14 will be selected to stay for a Ph.D., while the rest return to school for their master’s. The so-called joint training Ph.D. means the first year is spent taking classes at USTC, and the next four years are spent doing research at MSRA, ultimately earning a degree from USTC (so we are genuine USTC graduate students, not trainees).

Both Lu Yuanwei and Senior He Yu said it was a good opportunity and suggested I consider it carefully. I thought I would intern for a summer first, see how it goes, and then decide.

At that time, I was deeply influenced by the culture of Linux and free software and had quite a few prejudices against Microsoft. When HR called to confirm my “start date,” I asked why it was called “start date.” Only then did I realize I was going as an intern for joint training, and it felt awkward to become an employee of a company I didn’t like at the time.