Maria and Rosie giving a presentation.

Hospital Sacro Cuore in Verona.

Toby and two team mates by a waterfall

The School of Life Sciences fosters a culture of world-leading research that addresses complex real-world issues. Committed to building an internationally-connected community of life scientists, the school actively supports international placements for undergraduate students. These placements, which are funded by the University of Sussex Turing fund, offer students an invaluable opportunity to explore their research interests and gain skills that will shape their future careers. With placements in Hungary, Ecuador, Italy and Zambia, students get a different perspective on their course whilst experiencing life in a different country and culture.

International Advanced Neuroscience Research Techniques Placement –Budapest, Hungary

In June 2023, third year students Rosie Russell (MSci Neuroscience) and Maria Staikopoulou (MSci Biology) participated in the International Advanced Neurosciences Research Techniques work placement at Eötvös Loránd University (ELTE) in Budapest, Hungary. This programme was part of the University of Sussex Turing-funded activities and supported by a Sussex Neuroscience scholarship.

My Internship Experience at ELTE University in Budapest – Maria Staikopoulou

The opportunity to participate in the inaugural Turing Scheme internship at ELTE University organized by the University of Sussex is one of my most cherished experiences of my life thus far. Working closely with the professionals at the lab, I have not only broadened my scientific horizons but also confirmed my passion for this career path. Throughout the course of my internship, we encountered our fair share of ups and downs. However, the satisfaction derived from achieving noteworthy results far outweighed any temporary setbacks. Being part of an ongoing research endeavour, one that holds the potential to deepen our understanding of the mechanisms underlying neural circuit formation and shed light on neurodevelopmental disorders, was truly gratifying. It is inspiring to consider that our findings may contribute to the development of therapeutic approaches aimed at restoring synaptic function and enhancing cognitive abilities.

I must emphasize the exceptional support I received from the staff at the lab. Their unwavering dedication, patience, and enthusiasm for their work created an ideal learning environment. I am grateful for their mentorship and guidance, as I could not have asked for better mentors to navigate me through the intricacies of this internship. Their passion and expertise have inspired me to continue pursuing excellence in this field and have instilled in me a deep appreciation for the power of scientific research. My time at ELTE University as part of the Turing Scheme internship has been transformative and truly unforgettable. I am immensely grateful for the opportunity to work alongside such brilliant minds and contribute to meaningful research. The memories, knowledge, and personal growth I have gained will undoubtedly shape my future choices, serving as a constant reminder of the incredible journey I embarked upon during this internship.

My time at ELTE – Rosie Russell

The Sussex Neuroscience Scholarship and Turing Scheme provided me with an amazing opportunity to visit the beautiful city of Budapest in Hungary to work with world leading researchers at ELTE University. Initially travelling to study in a different country seemed quite a daunting task, however, the warm welcome my internship partner, Maria, and I received soothed my worries and built up my excitement for the month to come.

On the first day we started, we had a tour of the labs and a discussion of the work to be covered over the coming weeks. ELTE has excellent facilities and equipment which I was very excited with the prospect of learning to use. One technique I learned was the preparation of primary hippocampal neuronal cultures. We were able to see our cultures grow from the solution of hippocampal cells to a functioning primary neuronal network. We also learned biotinylation of proteins, western blotting, patch clamping, immunocytochemistry, FRAP (fluorescence recovery after photobleaching by a laser beam), and live cell imaging using the neurons we prepared. Patch clamp was one of the techniques I was most excited to learn. Seeing the firing of these neurons live was thrilling. Fluorescence immunostaining of proteins in neurons and observing them live under a confocal microscope was particularly enjoyable. Visualising the neurons enabled us to see many morphological features of the neurons including the cell body, axons, dendritic branching, and even localisation of specific receptors! On the last day at ELTE, we presented our results.

This month of working alongside world-leading researchers has taught me so much, not only have I advanced my knowledge and experience in experimental skills, but I have also gained an insight into a career in neuroscience. The Turing scheme has boosted my drive to succeed in this field of work and I am highly motivated to use and expand the skills I have learnt. I would like to thank all who were involved in making the Turing scheme possible this year both from Sussex University and ELTE University, it truly has been a wonderful opportunity and experience.

*We’d like to thank Drs Katalin Schuett and Norbert Bencsik (Department of Physiology and Neurobiology Élettani és Neurobiológiai Tanszék Eotvos University, Institute of Biology) for developing this programme and supervision of student activities. 

International Biostatistics Research Placement – Verona, Italy

My time at Unità per la Ricerca Clinica IRCCS Sacro Cuore - Don Calabria – Solveig Leblay

I have worked at a regional hospital in a small village near city of Verona, Unità per la Ricerca Clinica IRCCS Sacro Cuore - Don Calabria for four weeks in June 2023. The first week and a half, I was working in the bioinformatics department. My job consisted of background research on COPD and creating a presentation used at a seminar. I was also given the responsibility of analysing and describing multiple data sets that will be used in various studies. The next few weeks I alternated between diagnostic laboratories of Parasitology, Bacteriology and Molecular Biology. My activities included identifying parasites under the microscope, observing samples such as blood, faeces or urine, and staining of the slides for diagnosis. In the Bacteriology lab, the rhythm was different as the work was done by automated machines that were able to swab multiple samples simultaneously and identify antibiotic resistant bacteria on the plates. We routinely went to the process of spreading samples on different types of agar media that were sent into incubation to be analysed by a professional a few days later. The last laboratory responsibly I was given is emergency duty for Molecular Biology where I was shadowing a researcher in both the research and the emergency department. In the research department, we were tasked to perform DNA extraction used subsequently for a PCR. In the emergency department, we received a variety of samples that we prepared for various PCR panels such as gastrointestinal, upper and lower respiratory tract, etc.  All that can be useful to quickly diagnose a wide variety of disease. The groups of people I worked with were extremely nice and welcoming, even with the language barrier. They answered all of my questions and made me feel very comfortable in the professional world of research.

Throughout this amazing opportunity, I learned the importance of data analysis and bioinformatics in scientific research. It taught me reliable methods to do background research on a variety of subjects and filter the information to what is necessary for projects. I was also introduced to biostatistics methods like R programming making me realise the broadness of Biomedical Sciences. This internship showed me how what I learned during lectures is used in real life practices and how to work professionally with lots of different people and teams. In the three research labs I was able to work at, I was pleasantly impressed by Parasitology. As this is not a topic we have currently covered in our course at Sussex, I did not know what to expect, but I was met with passionate people who showed me the importance of parasite research and how it is overlooked. 

*We’d like to thank Professor Massimo Guerriero and Dr Nicoletta De Santis (Unità per la Ricerca Clinica, IRCCS Sacro Cuore - Don Calabria) for developing this programme and supervision of student activities. 

International Field Work Placement - Tesoro Escondido Reserve, Ecuador

Toby Bliss – my time in Ecuador

I worked in Tesoro Escondido Reserve in the mega-diverse Chocó region of Ecuador (17 July – 29 August 2023). Based primarily in the remote reserve station, I spent six weeks working and learning across different aspects of the reserve. This has included going into the rainforest with researchers to track critically endangered brown-headed spider monkeys to understand their role in seed dispersal across the reserve, joining herpetologists in their nocturnal monitoring surveys, completing insect surveys for an agroecology project, and collecting seeds from recently rediscovered Magnolia trees for their reforestation. I was also involved in working with volunteers helping to improve the reserve, examples are, building planters for reforestation saplings, digging channels to redirect storm-water and fixing trails to improve access to the reserve.

One of the most valuable experiences was a week spent in a town neighbouring the reserve joining the reserve managers on their community projects educating children about their surrounding environment, as well as a trip into an indigenous community for a photography project for young girls to provide skills and empowerment to women, showing them opportunities beyond traditional duties as a mother or a wife. Working on the community projects was particularly eye opening to the daily lives of people in these small countryside towns that are often forgotten by government and institutions, with many of those we worked with living in poverty. Even more eye opening was the level of racism present toward indigenous peoples, leading many to distance themselves, even forming their own democratic leadership to govern their communities.

My international placement has also been instrumental in guiding me what to focus on future studies and career. From gaining experience in different roles across Tesoro Escondido, I found that I am very much interested in pursuing a career in the decision making and collaborative efforts across broader landscapes and the surrounding communities.

The opportunities of working in a tropical rainforest and learning from managers, parabiologists and local people has been invaluable. The placement has allowed me to understand different levels of the functions of a reserve from the decision making and planning the managers undertake, to the different methods of research and monitoring conducted. Being on this placement has allowed me to take the theory of conservation and ecology taught in lectures and see how this is translated into practice under real life conditions and the limitations of funding, resources and lacking governmental infrastructure. Gaining knowledge from these different roles in conservation as well as learning skills in monitoring and research, including practical skills of amphibian handling and bat mist-netting, makes me incredibly grateful for this experience and I would thoroughly recommend an international placement to anyone wanting to deepen their understanding from their studies and see first-hand how it is applied around the world.

*We’d like to thank Professor Fiona Matthews for organising the project and Dr Citlalli Morelos for leading and supporting Toby’s placement at Tesoro Escondido.