Pros
The researchers (with exception to the CEO/PI) here are amazing and empathetic. They are knowledgeable and incredibly patient. You will learn a lot because you will be the only software engineer [intern] here. The most important skill that you will learn is being able to collaborate with researchers. You will most certainly learn how to communicate your ideas to those who have different specialties (and vice versa). Essentially, you will develop skills that allow you to translate a researcher's needs into a tool that provides value. Lastly, I was provided housing - that is, the floor above the office was slightly renovated to have a shower and I utilized an office room for my living space. I had the option of either sleeping on an air mattress or a twin-sized bed with a comforter. 'Food' was provided - that is, cooking by the PI or the option to purchase my own ingredients with my own money.
Cons
***THERE WERE NO SOFTWARE ENGINEERS AT THE COMPANY EXCEPT ME, AN INTERN*** I was scheduled to come back exactly one day before my semester started. I was suffering mentally due to family matters and this being my first 'internship' and initially wanted to just fight through it. However with 4 weeks left until my designated leave date, I decided to open up about my mental health and asked if I was able to leave 2 weeks early. The CEO responded with a listing of tools that must be completed (I asked to which ones were the most important - "everything is important"). Unfortunately, I was told to 'grow up' and was ultimately let go on the same day I opened up about my personal matters/health. We did not have a tool to clock our hours. I individually tracked my hours, I had worked ~50 hours each week. We agreed on an hourly wage and I were to receive that calculated payment as a lump sum. However, I left/let go 4 weeks early, but instead of re-calculating my hours, my initial payment WAS CANCELLED AND I RECEIVED NO PAYMENT. I also received a send-off email stating how I was not a suitable fit for Gigantest because I was 'emotionally unstable'. By the end of my time here, I created, re-iterated, managed, and monitored over a dozen of tools. I was brought in as a software 'intern' but the company lacked infrastructure and management, no one was supervising or advocating for my growth as an individual; instead, I was tasked with automating the majority of their pipeline. I worked with researchers to understand a manual process and worked alone to implement a tool that automated said process. The CEO/PI was not empathetic nor understood anything about the overall development process (e.g. bugs were unforgivable despite lack of testing and code review; occasionally, I was berated for making mistakes). Near the end, there was excessive micromanagement and my tickets were modified without my knowledge. There is no software testing or code review due to the pacing and demand of the CEO.