Barbora’s quest into studies abroad at Unitartu Summer School

Hi, my name is Barbora, and I am a first-year master’s student in Molecular Biology and Genetics in Brno, Czech Republic. I have always been a curious person, and when I started to get the hang of how things work around here for undergraduate students, I decided that I would like to study at a university abroad and experience something new.

My first idea was to go to Erasmus, but since the first year of my master’s studies is supposed to be really hard, I could not go just yet. My curiosity was getting the best of me, so I decided to apply for a summer school as a starter. Choosing UniTartu Summer School of Synthetic Biology and its Applications was not hard. Not only are there not many summer schools about synthetic biology to begin with, but the hosting Looglab is renowned in the field.

And even though I was nervous and scared to travel alone for the first time as I thought I would be lonely, I told myself, “What the hell, let’s go. You have to be there.” And after some paperwork, booking flights, and applying for funding from my university – there I went.

My experience with the course was probably a bit different from that of the other students since I already work in a bioengineering laboratory. Nevertheless, I still learned something new. We engineered yeast to produce carotenes and analysed their production with HPLC. Probably the most impactful was the first lecture on Synthetic Biology as a field and its applications, where some of them were new to me and very interesting. I tried HPLC, and I worked with yeast for the first time; before, I had just worked with bacteria.

Apart from lab work and lectures, I also enjoyed many social events planned by the UniTartu Summer School team. I enjoyed visiting the Estonian National Museum; it is the most beautiful museum I have ever been to. I even returned for the second time to see the whole exhibition! We had an entire day trip to South Estonia. I was delighted when we visited the bogs and could go swimming in a lake. We also had a guided tour of the city centre, we went bowling and had a ride on the Emajõgi river and so many more. And I definitely recommend using the rental city bikes as you can see more of the city and surrounding nature. I was really just enjoying myself, and Tartu, being the European capital of culture for 2024, also helped with many exhibitions, concerts, and open-air cinemas.

But the most impactful were the people. All the people I have met were so inspirational, and my labmates were so driven, intelligent, and funny. The mentors and organisational staff were so kind and helpful, and the participants from other programmes opened a window into fields that were completely foreign to me. The people are what I enjoyed the most, what stayed in my mind and heart. Cultures differ, but I found out we have more in common than we think. My fear of being lonely did not come true; I was always surrounded by friends, and I hope I will see them again.

So the moral of the story is: Go experience foreign countries, people, and universities. The chance is you might just love it.

On the same topic:

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• Unique and spectacular journey at UniTartu Summer School by Lucija
• My unforgettable experience at the UniTartu Summer School 2024 by Stephora
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