Camila

The first thing I did was look for the latest research articles on the research field that was appealing to me. Then I e-mailed the PI from that paper telling him I found the article interested and asking him if he was looking for an intern. He replied to me and we met online, he told me about the projects he was currently working on and asked me if I was interested. Once I said yes I started my application for the Marshall Plan Scholarship because I knew it would be too expensive for me to go without a scholarship. At the same time the host institution took care of the visa. The scholarship and the visa were the most critical parts of my preparation for the exchange.

The J-1 visa was the most important. As a researcher from a foreign country I cannot perform any labor without a visa. The host institution takes care of the first part that involves justifying why you are needed there. This is the longest part because they have to send a document over to Austria. With that document you can request the visa at the US consulate in Vienna, this took about a week in my case but waiting times can vary.

I applied to the Marshall Plan Scholarship, the US is a very expensive country, more expensive than Austria so it would not have been possible for me to come without a scholarship. However, this was not enough to cover my stay, I received 7,200euro on a first installment and a second installment of 1,800euro is done after finishing submitting and getting approved the thesis. For the 7 months I stayed there I could cover the rent, some expenses related to the visa and tickets. You definitely some additional self-support.

I lived at a shared house with a family composed of the mom and the son. They had 3 rooms for rent, each person would have its own room. I could use all the common areas. One of the coolest parts was that they have some sort of gym so I could do my work-out here. The location is not too close to the city but it pays-off with the price. Another major advantage was that food was included in the rent and the landlady cooks for the whole week, so I did not have to worry much about cooking or grocery shopping.

The US is crazy, and Boston as well, there are lots of activities all the time. The city really encourages people to use the common areas, there are concerts, marathons, open-air work-outs, there will be something to do all the time. Some days of the month museums are free, and there are special deals for locals. You will never get bored in Boston.

The institute I worked at is part of the Massachusetts General Hospital so I had to undertake every capacitation needed for hospital staff. This includes 9 online courses.

The Schepens Eye Research Institute is an academic institution that focuses on the field of ocular therapies and regeneration. People with all kinds of academic background work at the institute making it a great space for learning from different fields. Also, the people from my and other labs were willing to teach me new techniques and help me troubleshoot my experiments. This is definitely a great place for young researchers to grow surrounded by more experienced scholars.

The most important was experimental planning, all the experiments I did relied only on my planning skills, I encountered with individual work all the time. This allowed me to grow professionally and personally. I got to work with animals for the first time, so my animal handling skills were born in this place. Besides interacting with other cultures was important here because most of the researchers are not form the US.

I became more aware of how life as a researcher is, when I was in Austria I did research at a university, but everything is much more controlled there because you are surrounded by professors who teach so most of the time everything is ready for you to use, in case you want to order something it has to go through your supervisor. In my case I had freedom to ask for any reagent I needed, but at the same time more responsibility relies on you. I value more the labor of professors in Austria now.

I think impostor syndrome was the biggest challenge, when you are surrounded by very well skilled professionals you start (or at least I start) thinking why do you deserve being here, what is the added value you bring to the team, how can you be useful to them, but in the end every experience in life is about growing as a professional, and we are all learning. There is not one single person that knows everything, that is exactly why we work in teams. Once I realized this, I was able to enrich myself more from the experience.

Being surrounded by so many academics, realizing they are not as posh, and most of them do not have superiority complexes but instead are willing to instruct or orientate. I am grateful for all the aspects of my internship and would totally recommend an experience like this to every rising scholar.