The perfect platform to meet people with similar interests
Anna Halldóra N. Snorradóttir did a research internship at the University of Bonn in Germany last semester. Anna Halldóra is pursuing a master's degree in digital health at Reykjavík University.
"I saw an advertisement from HR about a research internship in Bonn through the European university alliance NeurotechEU. I was very intrigued and decided to apply and see what happened. I instantly felt, when I was accepted, that I was really excited to try something new and expand my horizons!", says Anna Halldóra.
Worked with measurements such as MRI, EEG and eye tracking
Anna Halldóra spent two months in Bonn and was a member of a research center called Neuromadlab. "Their research focuses on motivation. The research that was underway while I was abroad was to examine the stimulation of the vagus nerve and the effect of the stimulation on motivation in individuals with depression, as well as examining its connection to the “gut-brain axis”, says Anna Halldóra - and we encourage readers who are scratching their heads to familiarize themselves with these concepts with the help of the research centers' website.
“At the research center we were receiving participants and conducting various measurements such as MRI, EEG and eye tracking. I had never worked with such measurements and learned a lot. However, my tasks mainly revolved around pre-processing data and programming experiments that would be used in future studies,” says Anna Halldóra.
A great advantage getting to know the activities of NeurotechEU
According to Anna Halldóra, the formal working hours during the internship were from 9-17 on weekdays. “But it was flexible, for example if I was traveling around Germany there was a possibility of a long weekend. It is always very exiting and fun to move to a new country, get to know a new culture and people.”
An internship is a great way to gain experience working in research, especially if you are planning to pursue a doctoral degree, according to Anna Halldóra. “It was also a great advantage to get to know the work of NeurotechEU, which is a university alliance of several universities in Europe in the field of neuroscience and technology and luckily Reykjavík University is part of this alliance. Neuroscience and technology have always been exciting subjects for me, and NeurotechEU is therefore the perfect platform to meet other people with similar interests. Following this internship, I went to a Hackathon in Istanbul organized by NeurotechEU. There are many events available throughout the year for students, I highly recommend keeping an eye on them and trying to apply when the opportunity arises.”
