The internship takes place at the University of Sharjah, which is set on a large campus that hosts libraries, shops, canteens, sports complexes and even barbers. The University itself is split in two main areas, the men's and the women's side. The spaces are huge and in both sides there are lecture rooms, offices and laboratories.

Sharjah is very large and most of the city is chaotic and dirty, but there are some very nice places to hang out. Since the male interns lived in the dorms and the female interns in an apartment in Muwaileh, we would mostly hangout there in the evening during the week.
Some other nice places to hangout are Al Zahia Mall, which has a huge food court and nice shops, Al Jaddah park, where you can sit comfortably outside, or Zawaya Walk for coffe shops.
Further from University City I would recommend Al Majaz waterfront, Al Qasba canal or Al Heera beach.

In the whole Sharjah Emirate alcohol is not allowed! Eventually, we all got used to enjoy our time with good tea and food.

Dubai is very close to Sharjah, less than an hour by taxi, so we spent many weekends there. I would recommend going there with a bigger group of friends and renting apartments, which are surprisingly cheap. In Dubai there are many places to hangout and explore. My favourites are Burj Khalifa, Dubai Mall, Marina, Global Village (been there 5 times!), Miracle Garden, Deira, Al Mamzar beach (which is very close to Sharjah).

As for longer trips I recommend Khorfakkan, Fujairah, Abu Dhabi and a desert trip.

Outside of UAE I have visited only Oman, but it was incredible. It has a lot of culture, nature, colours and overall a very nice vibe. There I recommend visiting Muscat, Nizwa, Sur, Wadi Tiwi and Wadi Shab. The best activity in Oman was swimming with turtles!

Research Institute for Sciences and Engineering (RISE). Most of the interns were working under this institute, as it covers all branches of engineering. I was at the Sustainable and Renewable Energy department. The department has various offices in its main building (I had one office all for myself!), and laboratories that are very well equipped.

I was working on CFD analysis of heat transfer enhancement in a heated pipe using gyroid inserts to promote turbulence. The main focus was on optimizing heat transfer and pressure drop for solar thermal applications.

I spent most of my time in the office, working on my computer. I got a university email and therefore access to licenses for all the programs that I needed. Unfortunately, I got to use the laboratory only a couple of times.
I would meet with my supervisor once a week to report my progress, but there was no pressure. We were basically research assistants, and most of the supervisors encouraged and supported us to publish our work as research.

Depending on the month, we would get around 3.500 AED. Surprisingly, food, taxis and life in general in UAE is cheap, so for basic needs it is more than sufficient. If all expenses are shared with other interns, it is possible to even enjoy some nights out without spending too much.
Of course if you plan to travel a lot, hangout and go to parties, it is not enough:)

All payments were in cash only, so we tried to spend all of it before the end of our internship. We had problems with the payments, as for each month we would get payed around the end of the following month, instead of the beginning. This was mainly a problem at the start, as when we first arrived we had to pay a lot for medical check-up, local insurance and the Emirates ID.

English is more than enough, as it is used everywhere. In some occasions however, like at restaurants or in taxis, we had to speak "broken English" and put emphasis on the "R" while speaking, as there are a lot of Indians and Pakistanis with strong accents.

Locals speak English fluently, are very welcoming and love teaching you their language. If you learn and use words like Salam Alaykum, Habibi, Shukran, Mashallah or Inshallah, they will cheer you and welcome you as a local.

The accommodation cost around 800 AED per month. Male interns had their accommodation in the campus dormitory, while female interns lived in Muwaileh.

Living in the dormitory is very comfortable, as it is only a 5 minutes walk from the university. Near the dormitory there is also a supermarket, a barber and a sports complex with space and equipment for almost any sport: basketball, football, volleyball, table tennis, cricket. There is even a gym, a swimming pool and a sauna.

The dormitory rooms are for two interns with one shared kitchen and bathroom. However, since only 5 of us arrived in October (while all other interns arrived in September), we were put together in two rooms with one shared kitchen and bathroom (3+2 interns).

IAESTE UAE did not organize pick-up at the airport, a welcome event, or any other type of event for us interns. The only organized event was IAESTE Day, in which each of us presented a poster describing our internship work to the university dean.

IAESTE took care of the bureaucracy (medical check-up, ID, etc...) when we first arrived. Then, whenever we had issues, we discussed mainly with memebers of RISE.

Meeting with other students was not difficult, as we all shared the same places, like dorms, university and sports complex. Hanging out with the female interns, however, was harder, as they did not live in the campus.
Eventually, after the first couple of months, each of the interns met the people they vibed with the most, and even strong friendships were formed.

As for sports, there are a lot of opportunities, mainly thanks to the sports complex in the campus. There is even a group "University of Sharjah Athletes", which organizes training sessions every Monday and Wednesday.

As for culture, there is not much to experience in UAE. The whole country feels fake, especially Dubai. For this reason I highly recommend visiting nighbouring countries like Oman.

As an italian, I was surprised by the local food, it is delicious.

As for meals I recommend Al Farooj Al Shami in Muwaileh for mix grill and shawarma, Aroos Damascus near Sharjah Waterfront for falafel, Mandi Bab Al Mandab in Dubai for lamb.

As for sweets I recommend Hanon Feras Sweets for kunafa, Katrina Sweets and Confectionery for choco bites.

What I personally loved was hanging out with friends and drinking tea or karak, which you can get at any cafeteria for 1 or 2 dirhams.

All social medias work in UAE, but calls are not allowed. To call using WhatsApp, Instagram or Messenger you need a VPN.
I used Botim for calls, which works without VPN.

Be careful not to get scammed!

1. SIM Card: e& is the cheapest and most efficient option if you apply for PRE PAY packages. I know many interns who got scammed for using POST PAY packages. For the first month you can apply at the airport for around 80 AED and have minutes and a few gigabytes. After the first month, once you have your Emirates ID, you can go to a physical shop and apply for a PRE PAY package in which you pay 50 AED and have75 minutes and 1 giga per day for 28 days. This package does not have any name, you have to describe it like this to the e& worker and he will set it up for you.

2. Taxi: Never ever accept a ride from someone claiming he is a taxi driver and leads you to a car with no label. Always use taxis with the yellow sign, which have the taximeter installed.

3. Bargaining: You can bargain everywhere, even in shops.

The little tool to open the phone's SIM slot.
Charger adapter.
Any medication that you regularly take.

In a professional way the internship was great for applying what I learned only in theory at my home University. Also, I had the opportunity to see how research works, which allows me to choose my career path more wisely.

Even more than professionally, however, the internship beneficial in a personal way. I met amazing, kind and fun people, and we created deep bonds. Being for four months in a place completely different from Europe and being on my own changed the way I see the world and daily problems.
The people you meet, the situations you experience, and the problems you deal with make you more self-aware of what you can offer within a group.

IAESTE is part of CASTO (Career Advancement and Student Training Office) at University of Sharjah, therefore the members were very busy and we were not their first priority. Whenever we had any issue, we discussed it mainly with RISE.