Elena

How did you find your internship position? How did you apply for it? How did you prepare for your stay abroad?

I searched for universities with a good reputation for public health research, laboratory facilities and projects involving wastewater, technologies for development, ecotoxicology. I looked up different professors in the department and wrote them that I’m looking for a project. One of them responded, we settled on a project topic and I prepared a MPS project proposal with his input.

What practical precautions did you take before the exchange?

Visa took a long time and was uncertain for a while so I was not sure even in January/February if it would work out, because of the long processing time at the target university to get the DS-2019. As soon as I got it, I applied for the Visa at the consulate here and I could ask for a speedier interview date because the project was supposed to start sooner than the original interview date. In the end I started the MPS stay only 1 month later than originally planned but it was honestly quite stressful and uncertain at every step. So ask the university about the DS-2019 as soon as possible! Also don’t expect the international office to know anything. You have to piece it all together yourself, and ask for the forms.
Housing was found mainly through the team there and through what they recommended me works locally (Facebook marketplace).
Insurance was a bit difficult too, because there was no “Erfahrungen” with the insurance agencies that I could read through.

What kind of financial arrangements did you have to make?

Travel health insurance (about 300 euros). Local health insurance (about 600 dollars) was paid by the lab. Rent per month for a room in a shared house about 600 dollars. Fresh food was relatively expensive, but I figured out the local supermarkets and the farmer’s market so on a vegetarian diet it was fairly manageable.

How were you greeted, trained and welcomed by the company?

There was no specific welcome event. The first week I arrived was fairly unstructured and they told me of a field trip that I could attend if I wanted (I did), showed me around the labs, told me the lab safety courses I should attend. I was introduced to the team and told of the events that were going on in the near future.

Please describe your accommodation

I stayed in 3 different locations. Renting is relatively expensive. The first location was a little cut off because of a highway and did not have a bike yet. The next places I stayed at were fairly central. I found them through asking my team and then anyone I got to know from other contexts about how they would go about it.

How would you describe the country, the culture and the leisure activities you experienced during your stay abroad?

I am an avid biker, so I immediately tried to find people who had similar interests and this is how I developed a little bit of a community during my stay there. If I didn’t have this, it would have been a rather lonely stay. I took every chance to explore the beautiful landscape with bike or through car trips. In short, I would say find a vector for community – mine was interest in bikes.
Also the farmer’s marked would host the weekly vegetable market but also all kinds of events outside of that. Especially in June there was a lot of Pride events.

How would you describe the internship?

The infrastructure and support were there, but I needed to ask for it. This stay demanded independence and a way to verbalize what it is that’s needed for the next step. Nothing was offered fully formed on a plate, it was more like puzzle pieces that I had to put together and sometimes would discover maybe a little later that it could have been.
Through the process of iteration, figuring it out in a small team I got to the conclusion that we need assistance from the analytical chemistry department that the public health department couldn’t provide. I put this forward in consultation with the team and we made it like this.

My master thesis concerns method development for the analysis of cortisol in wastewater samples using UHPLC-MS/MS.

How have your values and attitudes changed during your time abroad?

I’m not sure about changes, but definitely evolutions of values and attitudes as they come in contact with different contexts. I think some of my opinions were refined, others deepened. I really wanted this research stay for the personally fulfilling experience and also that I could use it to get to know what method development really is and what public health research really is and then to apply it to my future career path.

Looking back, what was the biggest challenge in preparing for or during your stay abroad?

It was challenging not to be discouraged in the application procedure because getting the DS-2019 took so much time. Figuring out health insurance was unpleasant. Other challenges were more pleasant, more like overcoming smaller obstacles or reorienting when faced with new information.

What was your most positive experience during your stay abroad?

That I’m quite good at practical decision making and reorientation. That I like solving challenges when we are working in a good team that’s supportive.