What do you like about the programme/specialisation and why? How has the programme/specialisation challenged you? Did you experience things that were especially difficult?
The Master's does not only teach you a lot about the biomedical sciences, but also provides you with a broad toolkit of skills that you might need for your future career. The most difficult part for me was learning to manage my time in a more structured way so that I could keep up with the high pace of the courses.
What do you think about the atmosphere in class?
I think it is fantastic. Because we have a long period of courses in the beginning with our own group of students with a lot of group-work, we really got to know each other quite well. The MMD student community is very close, which made me really feel at home at the Radboud University. The close contact we had with teachers is also of great value for me, you learn a lot in this way about all aspects of sciences.
What do you find most challenging in your Master’s? Have you encountered any obstacles?
During MMD there are quite some exams that follow each other quite shortly. In this way I have learned much more than I did during other courses, but it can be challenging sometimes. Finding a good balance between studying and social life is of course the key to this.
Are you currently doing an internship? Or what is your thesis about?
I will be leaving for my second internship in approximately a month! My first internship concerned the characterization of a set of proteins found on the surface of sexual-stage malaria parasites, that might be used as new vaccine candidates in the future. In my second internship I will travel to the Pirbright Institute in the United Kingdom, where I will study the protein-RNA interactions needed for translation-replication regulation in flaviviruses.
Why do you think is it important that that there are people out there with this degree? What are your plans once have received your Master's degree?
I think it is crucial for the development of novel treatment options to understand diseases at the smallest level. I think this Master's has prepared me very well for a career in research, but also provided me with critical skills I could need elsewhere. After graduating, I plan to do a PhD in the field of Medical microbiology or Genome editing.