An update after my first week (in Basel)

I met with the professor with whom I am conducting research at the University of Basel last week. Our first week together went great! He fully informed me of the studies he has conducted in the past, is currently working on, and future ideas for research. He provided me with different options for studies that I can work on with him. There are two studies that we will be working on together. One is on the abstractness of Money and how it influences people, and the other study is on the abstractness of language and how it influences people. Over the next few months we will design a study or two for each of these topics and gather data. I am sharing an office with two other ladies. They both speak little English but I speak some German so we are still able to converse. The building is located just off campus and is easily accessible. It is comforting how easy it is to get around the city. I wish Arizona had public transit systems like these.

Wishing Ovomaltine and Mango Fanta was sold in the States

Well I've now had plenty of chances to tour around Zurich, and I think I've done most of it. There were some nice churches in the downtown area, and around the city there are plenty of hiking trails with viewing towers. I have not eaten out much; with today's lousy exchange rate it seems like a bad idea to do so. I was really surprised when I got the bill for a seemingly inexpensive meal at a back-alley restaurant in the city. So I'm mostly buying "Aktion" groceries from their big discount store, Migros, which is just one bus-stop away from where I live. I've tried the various foods which I'm told are characteristic of Switzerland, and so far I've enjoyed all their meats, cheeses, rosti, and of course, the various malted chocolates, my favorite.

As for research, I've spent a lot of time shadowing the graduate students and seeing all the neat equipment they have. All the machines are very high quality; I used to think only industries could afford this caliber, but I guess my home-school just doesn't spend enough of it's own huge grant on research equipment. Anyway, I have a fairly good idea of the project I want to do using nickel nano-wires that I made back in the US, on a setup similar to one being done here at ETH now using carbon nanotubes. Which reminds me, the department I'm with had it's annual Industry Day last week, and there we heard speeches from various big industries (ABB, Siemens, etc.), and also from Dr. Iijima, who is pretty much the Dr. Watson of nanotechnology as he is credited with discovering the carbon nanotube. So that was exciting. That and seeing all the projects here has actually made me seriously consider applying for a Masters degree or more here at ETH. That is if living in Zurich becomes more affordable for students!

My first day in Basel

I arrived in Basel today! The city is SO beautiful. I spent the last few days in Paris and took a train through the countryside this afternoon to Basel. I will meet with my researcher for the first time tomorrow. I will be working with a professor at the University of Basel for the next three months on Influence studies in Psychology. When I find out more specifics on our studies, I will post them. We have been corresponding over the past couple months on working together on this study. I’m excited to meet him and begin my research here in beautiful Switzerland!!

Grüsech, mitenand!

My name is Suzanna Attia.  I'm a rising 3rd year in Baylor College of Medicine and a graduate of Rice University.  My hometown is Houston, TX, although now I can claim a smidgen of Bernese identity as I am in the midst of my 2nd month of 3 months here in Bern, Switzerland's unassuming capital city.  Right now I am, in general, doing a meta-analysis of HIV transmission in serodiscordant couples as part of the Institute of Social and Preventive Medicine at the University of Bern.  I work with epidemiologist and medical doctor Nicola Low and ISPM director and epidemiologist/medical doctor Matthias Egger.  

More specifically, right now I am developing my extraction sheet, a questionnaire that is applied to each study destined for analysis, and I am also learning about the simple wonders of EpiData, a (free!) program which can store extraction sheet/questionnaires and can check independent researchers' extractions against each other. Soon to come in this process is the extraction of data itself in parallel but independently from a fellow medical student and researcher, Monika Müller, and then the analysis of the data and its assimilation into a useful, readable, interesting paper for review and hopefully, ultimately, publication in a major medical journal.  Wish me luck!

Arrived in Zurich

Hello, my name is Ryan Pei and I am a rising junior at Rice University in Houston, Texas, majoring in electrical engineering. My hometown is Los Altos, California, and for 3 months of the summer I will be doing research at ETH Zürich with Dr. Hierold of the Micro and Nanosystems group. I arrived in Zürich Monday, flying from San Francisco, and began working yesterday. From first impression, Zürich seems like an amazing city to live in. The city itself is very beautiful (I will try to include pictures later once I get a better internet connection), and the public transit system is convenient. The weather is nice; I’m glad that I did not come in the winter. The people are friendly, and everybody I’ve met so far speaks English. I was afraid that I would have trouble since I do not speak any German, let alone Swiss German. It actually amazes me that Switzerland manages to be one of the top countries in the world for technology and science when they have to also be able talk about their work in so many different languages.

ETH itself is a beautiful campus, located on a hill overlooking the city and the lake. It has buildings throughout the city, sort of like the universities I’ve visited in Boston back in the US. I live about 30 minutes away from where I’ll be working in a “Studentenhaus” on the outskirts of town, and there almost everyone speaks English as well.

There is a lot of advertising for the upcoming 2008 Euro Cup. They seem pretty serious about their football around here. It’s a good thing the Olympic Games in Beijing will be held later in the summer, as I think people here would actually rather pay attention to the Euro Cup matches if they had to make a choice between the two.

I can’t wait to see the rest of Zürich. Apparently there is a work holiday this coming Monday, so I will probably use this longer weekend to explore the city.

Dear ThinkSwiss Research Scholarship Participants

Congratulations on being selected for a 2008 ThinkSwiss Research Scholarship! This Blog is a place for you to share your experiences with other participants and for us to provide you with helpful information and let you know about meetings we initiate and events we organize. Please keep in touch and be sure to visit the ThinkSwiss Research Blog on a regular basis!

As soon as you receive the invitation to access the Blog, please introduce yourself briefly and tell us about your expectations and your research project in Switzerland.

I am curious to learn more about you and hope to receive some news soon!

ThinkSwiss Research Blog 2008 !!!

Dear Visitor,

Thank you for visiting the ThinkSwiss Research Blog! The Blog provides stories, impressions and thoughts of U.S. students who received support from ThinkSwiss for their research stay in Switzerland!

My name is Andrea and I am currently working in the Office of Science, Technology and Higher Education at the Embassy of Switzerland in Washington, D.C. For the next few months, I will administrate the ThinkSwiss Research Blog, post some info, inspire you to write articles and initiate meetings!

At the moment, we are about to select the ThinkSwiss Research Scholarship recipients, who will be informed in the next few days. The participants in the life sciences summer schools in Lausanne and Zurich will also be selected.

All recipients will receive a login and a password to post articles on the ThinkSwiss Research Blog. I am looking forward to learning more about you and your experiences in Switzerland and hope the ThinkSwiss Research Blog will serve as a platform linking all the students supported by ThinkSwiss in Switzerland.