Connie is spending her summer as a research assistant at the Hans-Knoll Institute in Jena, Germany where she is working in the lab of Prof. Christian Hertweck. The opportunity came about in an unusual way. Connie, motivated by some articles that she had read for her Structural Biochem (Chem 391) class decided to write to Prof. Hertweck and ask for a job. To her surprise, the answer was positive.
Some of her reactions to date:
“All-in-all my experience here has been amazing. I’ve been doing a very
interdisciplinary project where I do a lot of microbiology, a little
molecular biology, and a lot of organic synthesis, and a lot of
staring at MS and NMR spectra. It’s very neat that it allows me to
do work that encompasses both my biological and chemical interests.
The seminars I’ve seen are fantastic, and the PI is very nice and
encouraging and manages a really fantastic dynamic in the group. He
also has a great sense of scientific presentation in how he writes
articles, how he coaches people to give seminars, and the way that he
sees his research projects as little narrative stories. Everyone
speaks English well in the lab (I’d say this is generally true of the
scientific community), although occasionally the language barrier has
been a little bit difficult, and where I’m living is a pretty boring
area of town, but for the most part it’s been a really great experience.”