Students from across the School of Life Sciences have travelled to countries around the world to gain valuable work experience through the Turing Scheme.

The University of Sussex has been awarded funding from the Turing Scheme every year since its launch and it enables students to undertake work internships abroad.

Committed to building an internationally-connected community of life scientists, the School actively supports such international placements for undergraduate students.

These placements offer students an invaluable opportunity to explore their research interests and gain skills that will shape their future careers. With placements available in Hungary, Italy and Zambia, students get a different perspective on their course whilst experiencing life in a different country and culture.

Here are the stories from some of our Life Sciences Turing Internship 2025 participants:

Advanced Neuroscience Research Work Placements at Eötvös Loránd University (ELTE) – Budapest, Hungary

My summer in Budapest  

By Siddharth Saratchandran, MSci Medical Neuroscience 

I was awarded an opportunity to undertake a placement in the Schlett Lab at Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest, Hungary, in June 2025. The placement would involve the use of advanced techniques in neuroscience research to investigate the biology of a neuronal scaffolding protein called Caskin. Professor Katalin Schlett and the Schlett lab gave us a warm welcome on the first day. I am so grateful to everyone there, for they were ready to help us with everything we asked for it, throughout the placement. To be able to watch professionals who live and breathe science every day do their work reaffirmed my love for my subject.  We were supervised by Dr Norbert Benscik (Norbi), who mentored us with boundless patience, allowing us to carefully learn why we were doing what we did. PhD students in the lab, Daniel and Maissa, also provided some great advice. We were also supported by a postdocDr Anikó Rátkai, under whose careful guidance we could approach complex experiments like patch-clamp electrophysiology.

We were regarded as junior scientists and were allowed to carry out experiments semi-independently following the lab protocol with minimal supervision. We were able to learn a wide range of laboratory techniques including - dissecting hippocampi from mouse embryos, patch-clamp electrophysiology of neurons, performing enhanced chemiluminescence detection using X-ray film to develop signals following a western blot. Being in the lab and being so hands-on with the experiments was the best part of this experience. At the end of the placement, we presented our results of all experiments we performed in Katalin’s lab. To paraphrase Katalin, we “did real science”, and it has been one of the most transformative experiences of my life. 

As an international student, I also appreciated the opportunity to live in another country and experience the culture there. Budapest’s public transport system is officially my favourite. I was also enjoyed Hungarian cuisine. I was also fortunate to watch a ballet at the extremely beautiful Hungarian State Opera. Walking along the Danube after a very productive day was the best way to rejuvenate. A spontaneous day trip to Vienna was also very enjoyable. Maisy and I were also very fortunate to be in Budapest at the same time as a spontaneous lab retreat to Katalin’s beautiful summer house in the Hungarian countryside- a weekend filled with some great conversations, cooking and the occasional cherry-picking.

Overall, this placement gave me one of the most fruitful experiences of my life. I would like to thank the Turing Scheme and Sussex Neuroscience for their very helpful bursaries, which supported our living costs here. Everything I experienced in Hungary, both inside and outside the lab, will contribute to my future career as a scientist, and I am very grateful to have received this opportunity. 

An insight into my time in Budapest at ELTE University

By Maisy Vincent, BSc Neuroscience with Psychology 

During the summer of 2025, I was given the opportunity to undertake a Neuroscience Advanced Research Work Placement at ELTE university in Budapest. My main task was to analyse the variety of AMPA expression in response to Caskin 1 and 2 genotypes in mouse. This placement gave me not only valuable hands-on experience within the laboratory, but also memories that I hope to take with me in my future career in Neuroscience. 

From the moment I stepped into the lab, I was able to experience the daily life of a researcher. I had the opportunity to perform advanced techniques such as immunohistochemistry and immunocytochemistry, contributing to ongoing projects, which made our work feel both meaningful and rewarding. While we faced challenges along the way, seeing our experiments through from start to finish and presenting our findings to the lab at the end of our placement gave me a deep sense of satisfaction. 

The supportive and welcoming environment of the Schlett Lab allowed our curiosity to flourish. Beyond our own work, we also had the chance to attend Master student's thesis defence presentations, which gave us insight into the wider scope of research at ELTE and helped inspire our own final presentation. 

The generosity of the lab extended far beyond its walls, when a colleague kindly invited us to her holiday home, where we spent a weekend in Nagykoru, a peaceful rural town surrounded by cherry trees. A side of Hungary I would not have otherwise experienced. 

Outside of the lab, I shared my room with a Hungarian student who quickly became a good friend. She introduced me to her favourite hidden corners of Budapest and taught me how to make Túrós Csusza, a traditional Hungarian dish that I will never forget. These moments gave me a unique perspective of the city, beyond what most visitors get to see. 

My time in Budapest not only expanded my scientific knowledge but also showed me the value of collaboration, mentorship, and cultural exchange. The experience has inspired me to pursue a Master’s programme abroad, carrying forward the curiosity, skills, and kindness I found at ELTE. 

We’d like to thank Dr Katalin Schlett and for hosting Sussex students in her laboratory at ELTE and supervising this work placement. Professor George Kemenes and Dr Haruko Okamoto coordinated this placement in 2024/25. 

Biostatistics Work Placement at IRCCS Ospedale Sacro Cuore Don Calabria – Verona, Italy

Summer work experience at Ospedale Sacro Cuore Don Calabria, Verona, Italy

By Andreea Mocanu, BSc Biomedical Science

Thanks to the Turing scheme, I had the fantastic opportunity to carry out a summer work placement at Ospedale Sacro Cuore Don Calabria in Verona, Italy for four weeks. It is a regional hospital specialised in oncology and infectious and tropical diseases and my time there was split between the Biostatistics department and the department of Molecular Biology in Anatomical Pathology. 

In the Biostatistics department, I learned the steps from developing an idea of research (e.g. clinical trials and observational studies) planned and approved by the hospital’s ethics committee to the publishing of the paper in a scientific journal. I was able to work with the team undertaking those studies and learned how they collect data using REDCap (Research Electronic Data Capture). I was given very interesting papers to read on topics such as texture analysis and the Endo-SPONGE, an endoluminal vacuum therapy (EVT) system used to remove tissue fluid and anastomotic leaks following for example, colorectal surgery. Reading these papers allowed me to understand and be part of the team’s weekly meetings to get the full experience. I also had the amazing opportunity of contributing to the writing of a scientific abstract for the Pulmonary National Congress on COPD epidemiology. 

In the Molecular Biology department, I shadowed the technicians: their job is to identify mutations of the patients’ genomes that will be used to confirm or update the cancer diagnosis. I was so excited to see the new technology they were using at the hospital, such as Next Generation Sequencers, qPCR machines, Sanger sequencers, and RNA/DNA extraction robots.  

Every day I was looking forward to going in to see what new things I could learn that day. I gained so much experience, and it definitely helped me figure out my career path and I wouldn’t have been able to achieve all this without the people from the two teams: they were incredibly supportive and always ready to help! 

We’d like to thank Professor Massimo Guerriero and Dr Nicoletta De Santis for hosting Sussex students in their laboratory at Ospedale Sacro Cuore Don Calabria and supervising this work placement. Dr Leandro Castellano and Dr Haruko Okamoto coordinated this placement in 2024/25.

Back to news list