Portraits of the 2023 Summer School in Palermo Verified listing

Nina Krapf, Bachelor Student – 3rd Semester, Chemistry, University of Bern

Why did you decide to attend the summer school?

When we received the program with the lectures, there were several topics that sounded interesting, which made me want to join.

This is the first year that students from Uni Bern have joined – we at Biotechnet are really happy about that. Tell us what your first impressions of the summer school were.

What stood out was that the event is really non-hierarchical. You can talk with professors, masters, and PhD at a level where you don’t usually get to interact during the school year. Everyone was friendly, and it was a great opportunity for informal networking.

What was your favorite talk or activity? A plant-based alternative to yogurt: Effect of fermentation on pea protein by Arash Sagehi-Mehr, ZHAW. I am a vegetarian and used to be vegan. It was fascinating to hear about the scientific methods involved in producing meat alternatives and the results. Two other talks that caught my attention were How fungi and viruses exploit cell death mechanisms to cause human diseases, by Christoph Borner, FREIBURG, and How dead is dead? Killing of bacteria by Dasen Gottfried, ZHAW.

What are your future plans? After my Bachelor’s, I would like to do a Master’s at the ETH followed by PhD, probably outside Switzerland at a school were physical chemistry is strong – possibly in the UK. For my career I plan to stay in academia, because I love to study and feel comfortable in this environment.

Maria Chiara Puccio, Master Student, Industrial Biotechnology, University of Palermo and FHNW

What is your research focus?

I am developing a compound that is useful for plant cell culture.

Why did you decide to attend the summer school?

It’s interesting to see what other people are working on in their research.

What was your favorite talk or activity?

I’m looking forward to the talk on biocatalysis.

What are your future plans?

I would prefer to get some work experience before I look into a PhD. I’m open to cell culture applications of all types, it could be animal, microbial or plant cell culture.

Justin Monney, Bachelor Student, 3rd Year, HES-SO

Why did you decide to study biotechnology?

I had already studied biochemistry at the high school level so I knew that the field interested me. I decided to do my Bachelor’s at HES-SO, which is a university of applied sciences, because it allows me to become an engineer while working on science. This combination of practical and scientific knowledge is a real advantage at this type of university and perfect for me because I’m not happy to do just one thing at a time! I like to have an open mind and a range of possibilities after I graduate.

Have you already selected a research specialization?

For the moment the courses are still general, but I’m interested in enzymes that have environmental applications. What’s cool about enzymes is that they have applications in so many areas, for example pharma too, so it means I have lots of options!

Why did you decide to attend the summer school?

It’s a special opportunity to broaden my horizons of what is possible and discover what can be done with biotechnology.

What was your favorite talk or activity? I particularly enjoyed the presentation by Patrick Shahgaldian called In Silica Protein Engineering towards Nanobiotechnology and Nanomedicine. It was well structured and well presented.

What are your future plans?

I would like to do a Master’s right after my Bacherlor’s – seeing as I’m already in it and focused. I’ll probably do the Applied Bioscience Master’s here in Sion, possibly exploring some applications in pharma. But it all depends on how the next year goes and what really catches my attention in the courses that are coming.

Sophia Stewart, Bachelor Student, 3rd Year, ZHAW

Why did you choose to study biotechnology? I did vocational school (Lehre) in pharmacy, and I knew I didn’t want to stay in that role after. I was always interested in biology but because I don’t have the Matura (high school diploma required for university admission), most universities were not an option for me. So it was great that I could go to a university of applied sciences were I could follow my interests and study biotech.

Have you already selected a research focus?

We started to specialize in our fourth semester, either biology or technology. Then there are also about 7-8 minors that we can choose from, which means we have a lot of room to customize our education based on our interests. I’m pursuing the pharmaceutical direction and have several courses in this area.

Why did you decide to attend the summer school?

There were a few factors. The first was our professor Jack Rohrer, he was so excited about it and really encouraged us to participate. Full transparency: I’m a social person who likes a good party, so that was definitely part of the decision! The destination in Palermo attracted me, the fact that my friends from school were attending, and of course you get to see such a big range of talks that are different from the ones that you see at your own school – a variety of topics, and teaching styles from different countries.

What are your future plans?

Right now I don’t think I want to do a Master’s! I would like to go work after my Bachelor’s, and complement that with Continuing Education, like Certificates of Advanced Studies. What I would really like to do is contribute to training the next generation of talent, by taking on a role where I can coach students who are doing vocational school and practicums (Lehrlingsbetreuerin). I already got some experience when I was working at the pharmacy doing that and really enjoyed it.

Noah Squaratti, Bachelor Student, 3rd Year, FHNW

Why did you choose to study biotechnology?

I decided to go into Bioanalytics at the FHNW after doing a specialization in Biomedical Sciences at the College of Higher Education in Bern. Whereas biomedical sciences take place close to patients in a hospital setting, bioanalytics also has applications in the industry. I wanted to build on what I learned and make connections between the two fields.

Have you already selected a research focus?

Right now my courses are a combination of pharma technology, bioinformatics, and immunology, with a focus on health applications. I’m planning to do my Bachelor Thesis at the University of Manoa in Hawai’i, concentrating on tissue engineering. My thesis will be on the role of the transcription factor TCF21 in the survival of myofibroblasts, which play an important role in tissue repair.

Why did you decide to attend the summer school?

I was interested in the intercultural exchange within a scientific community. When researchers from different countries and facilities come together, it can lead to new discoveries. I also wanted to get a deeper insight into various areas of biotechnology. The diversity both of people and topics was attractive to me.

What was your favorite talk or activity?

The talk Biosynthesis and genetic encoding of phosphonates in E. coli by Nicolas Huguenin from the ETH was my favourite. He was able to summarize a lot of complex information in an understandable way in a short time period. Good science communication, broken down into pieces I could grasp.

What are your future plans?

I still need to do some civil service in Switzerland, which I’ll complete at Agroscope’s bee research facility for six months. This will be cool because it’s environmental science and will provide a different experience working outside in the field. After my Bachelor Thesis in Hawai’i, I plan to do a Masters in Immunology. That’s where I have the strongest interest and background. I’m fascinated by how complex the immune system is – almost all diseases are related to it functioning correctly and it can also backfire, for example in autoimmune diseases. I think my Master focus will be on cancer or Alzheimer’s immunotherapy, for example engineered protein fragments, single domain antibodies, or peptides. After my Master’s it’s hard to say…I feel like I already have a lot of plans for my future right now! I have a clear view of what I want to achieve in the next few years, taking it step by step. I will probably do a PhD because I like research…but all options are still open!