Again this year it was a pleasure to speak to students from the five universities who participated in the Summer School on Advanced Biotechnology.

Valerio Marasa

MSc Industrial and biomolecular biotech (first year), University of Palermo

Tell me about your study path.

I finished my bachelor’s degree last year and now I’m in the first year of the master’s at the University of Palermo. In October I’m going to be here at HES-SO in Sion to do an internship. I’ll be supervised by Matthis Rüdt and working with Auxana Castella.

What are your study and research interests?

My internship is focused on downstream processing of biopharmaceutical products. I’ll be using spectroscopy, UV spectroscopy and chromatography and will be testing a new monitoring device that’s being developed. One of my tasks will be to benchmark this tool against others that are already on the market and see how it performs in different applications.

Why did you decide to attend the summer school?

For me, the summer school is a way to take a step in getting familiar with Sion and HES-SO before I do the exchange. I’ve already had the chance to meet people that I’ll be working with, and today I’m visiting some of the labs I’ll be working in. If I want to make research my career, I need to be able to talk to people all around the world. There’s no better chance than this summer school to expand my network and get to know professors on an international level. I’ve already received invitations to visit labs in Zürich and Bern!

Do you have a favourite talk or session so far?

I really enjoyed the presentation about cell models of the brain to study Alzheimer’s disease and the behavior of the neurons with the uptake of pathological extra cellular vesicles. Brain pathology is fascinating to me.

What are your plans after you complete your master’s degree?

If you had asked me a year ago, I would have told you I want to do a PhD and do research at a university. But now that I see what’s out there in industry, I can’t say. I want to get some experience and see how I feel about it. This internship will be a key moment in choosing my future.

What kind of company or university would you like to work at later and why?

I see myself in environments where research is driven by innovation and curiosity, such as a university lab or an agile biotech startup. I’ve always been fascinated by how microscopic details drive macroscopic phenomena, and I want to be part of discovering solutions that haven't been seen before. The hands-on spectroscopic techniques I’m mastering here will be a strong asset for pushing those scientific boundaries.