The summer of 2023 was full of a lot of valuable exchanges with the Queen Mary University of London! My visit to London and the UK started with the Bio2Brain summer school which took place on the 28-30th June 2023 in the QMUL. During this week, we had the chance to discuss our current progress at the Bio2Brain Project, as well as brainstorm about what is next in our research. It was also a great chance to interact and work on our soft skills.
After the summer school, Bio2Brain ESRS Seth Asamoah (ESR 13), Romain Topalian (ESR 5), Beatrice Di Lelio (ESR 1), and I, continued to stay in London to perform our secondment traineeship at the QMUL under the supervision of Prof. Marina Resmini for the next three weeks. During our stay, Gabriela Rath (ESR 10), and Davide Mazzali (ESR 9) from the Bio2Brain project, and the other members of the Resmini group helped us to get more insights on the different characterization techniques that they use for their innovative nanogel research. I had a chance to learn more about surface tensiometer, and dynamic light scattering, as well as synthetic chemistry techniques. As an ESR who performs her research in an industrial environment, observing an academic environment was a great chance for me to understand the exchange between academia and the industry.
Moreover, my secondment traineeship was enriched by attending the UK Colloids 2023 Conference on 17-19th July 2023 in Liverpool, together with Gabriela, Davide, and Seth. During the conference, I had the opportunity to present my research to an audience with an oral presentation during the session on Polymer Colloid Engineering. In addition to this, I attended multiple interesting talks and poster discussions, to learn more about recent progress in the colloid and formulation science.
Overall, it was a great opportunity to discuss my research and get a new perspective on it. Finally, I would like to extend my thanks to fellow ESRs from the QMUL, Davide Mazzali and Gabriela Rath, and Prof. Marina Resmini for hosting us and for their help throughout this wonderful time in London.
