As part of my masters program at the FU I was able to intern at in the Shendure Lab in the Department of Genomics at the University of Washington for a year. I am extremely happy with my choice of going abroad and choosing this particular lab, both from an academic and personal perspective.

My masters program at the FU has a strong emphasis on gaining practical lab experience and I decided that I wanted to work in the US, because of the great reputation many American labs have worldwide. After doing some online research and asking a former Mentor, I quickly found the Shendure lab at UW. The lab is renowned for pioneering research in genomics and developing cutting-edge genetic technologies, attributes I was looking for as I developed a strong interest in genetics and looked for an opportunity work creatively in this field.

3 months before joining the lab I already started to brainstorm potential projects and experiments with my future mentor and collaborator in weekly meeting via zoom. The constant correspondence immensely helped me to acquire knowledge in the field and minimized the time I needed to adapt to the new lab once I arrived.

In a fortunate coincidence a friend from my cohort in at the FU was also able to secure an internship at UW. Through contacts from his receiving lab at UW we were able to find an apartment we could share quite fast before moving to Seattle.

From day one, I found myself in a supportive atmosphere that emphasized a healthy lab culture, where researchers could get along well, on both a personal and professional level. This sense of community was something I truly appreciated, as it demonstrated that scientific excellence does not have to come at the expense of a healthy work-life balance. I had the freedom to decide which projects I wanted to focus on, and I was actively encouraged to propose new ideas if I felt inspired. It was thrilling to have such autonomy, because I could draw on my personal interests, experiment with new methodologies, and dive deep into questions that sparked my interest. I was also very pleased that my coworkers and I had the flexibility to plan our experiments independently, without being confined to a rigid 9-to-5
schedule. This didn’t mean we worked any less—rather, we worked at times when we felt most productive. Moreover, this flexibility helped us maintain a better work-life balance, allowing us to sometimes schedule experiments around personal events in our leisure time.

Through the extensive resources and extraordinary mentorship from lab members of the Shendure lab, I was able to quickly get promising results in my projects, which further strengthened my belief in my capabilities as a scientist and motivated me to develop my projects further. The open and supportive spirit in the lab, made it easy for me to share ideas with others and helped to learn how to evaluate which ideas are worth following and how to autonomously handle scientific projects.

Another great source of inspiration were the weekly lab meetings in which lab members presented the advances in their projects, as well meetings with scientists from other labs. These interactions strengthened my beliefs in the power of a collaborations in science both, when it comes to achieving great results, but also having fun doing your job.

Living in Seattle, I also got to witness the beautiful landscape of the Pacific Northwest through hikes and other activities such as skiing. The city also offered a great choice of restaurants, museums, landmarks and local sports teams, which made it easy settling in.

All in all, I am very grateful that I had the opportunity to go to Seattle. The passion, creativity and commitment towards their work, from all members of the Shendure Lab was eye-opening and affirmed me in my choice to become a scientist myself. I am glad to see that it is possible to do extraordinary work, while still being able to have a balanced personal life.

While work was my primary motivation for going to the US, living in Seattle helped me appreciate everything the city has to offer and broadened my horizons culturally and personally.
At the same time, it made me realize that I’d love to find a similarly supportive and dynamic lab environment in Europe, as I learned that being close to home and other perks Europe offers, are very valuable to me.

Tips for Other Interns

Preparation
If possible, try to get in contact with coworkers as soon as possible, in order to be able to understand the place you are going to before you get there and make settling in less stressfull.

Visa application

I am happy I applied a year in advance. This made the application less stressfull (which doesn’t mean it wasn’t
stressfull).

Search for an internship
Do your research and don’t be afraid to contact a potential place you want to work at, even if they are not actively looking for interns.

Search for an apartment

I was lucky to have a friend with connections to a landlord. Living close to the university is definitely a benefit, especially because biking is good in Seattle.

Insurance

I used the DAAD insurance which worked fine for me, but I never had to used it fortunately.

Other

Enjoy your free time and explore the place you moved to.

Formalities on Site

Telephone-/Internet

I used mint moblile for my phone service and Xfinity for wifi.

Bank/Accountopening

I had a chase bank account which has great conditions for students and is easy to set up once you are there.

Everyday/Leisure

Hiking, skiing, kayking is great in seattle. The people there are very outdoorsy and active. The UW also has a great gym.
There are very cheap tickets for mariners baseball games.

Going-out Activities

The Ave at the University district, downtown and Capitol Hill are good for going out. Japanese and Chinese food is great. Chinatown is also interesting.