Since the beginning of my Bachelor’s degree, I had planned to spend time abroad during my studies. However, as the Bachelor’s degree course in chemistry is very strictly timetabled with practical courses every semester, I planned to complete a research internship abroad during my Master’s degree. Scandinavia was a country that had interested me for some time and where I could imagine emigrating to in the future.
Through my former supervisor, I got to know Dr. Philipp Klahn, who runs his own research group at the University of Gothenburg, in Gothenburg, Sweden.
Luckily his research field also was an interest of mine and he had enough space and time to offer me a position as a research intern for a duration of four month. After arranging everything with the professor, I applied at Erasmus for financial support. The process of applying and arranging all the needed documents was relatively easy and well supported by the Erasmus Office of the FU Berlin. Two months before my internship started everything was sorted out. And since Sweden is part of the European Union and didn’t have to apply for any kind a visa.
Finding housing in Sweden for short terms is relatively complicated, if you want to stay in a prize budget. Since I recently moved in Berlin, which was already a hassle, I simply applied for a private housing company, which offers shared apartments for people in their 20s-30s, also for a shorter stay. The company, COLIVE, also offer housing in other cities in Sweden, for example Stockholm. The application process is simple and only involves around two online meet ups. When you get a contact, you must submit some documents, one of them being a criminal record, which at first really surprised me. But if you think about it, it is kind of reassuring to know that no one in your shared flat has a criminal background. Especially when you’re alone in a new country and sharing a house with strangers. The accommodations are newly built and lay a bit outside of Gothenburg, but you can still reach the city center in ca. 25 min by bus. The flats are tidy and fully furnished and the kitchen is fully stocked with dishes and appliances. In my apartment I had my own bathroom and shared the kitchen and a common area with around 8 people. The apartments are made for 12 people on each floor, but since I was there in summer, when less people come to study it was never fully occupied.
There are different ways to get to Gothenburg from Berlin and most of them I got to test in my time abroad. Because of the amount of luggage, I chose to come by flight at the start of my internship. The Landvetter airport, outside of Gothenburg, is very well connected to the city center and only takes a 30 min bus ride. I arrived two days before my internship started, which I can only recommend. Through that I had the opportunity to check out the city in peace. Gothenburg is a very “hilly” city, which I didn’t know before I arrived, so going by bike is quite difficult if you don’t have the best endurance or an E-bike. For my exchange I bought the 3-month & 1-month public transport pass, which is enough to get around whole city and even reach the islands outside of Gothenburg. Typical for Sweden, everything works digital, also the public transport has its own app where you can buy your tickets and get your traffic information.
Surprisingly nothing really gets translated into English, but if you need help with a translation the people are very attentive and are happy to help. And if you need to translate a text, I can really recommend google lens, where you can upload a photo and translate the concerning photo. For websites which are exclusively in Swedish, I can also recommend google and it translate extension, which if turned on directly translates the whole webpage into your desired language.
If you want to go to Gothenburg, you should be prepared for a lot of rain, maybe even on London level, and colder temperatures. In the first week I arrived in April, it was snowing, and I wasn’t prepared for that at all. And even through the last few months, June & July, the average temperature was around 23 degrees. Another thing special in Sweden are the long bright days. If you want to sleep around 10 pm you must get blinds or get used to falling asleep while it’s still bright outside.
In Gothenburg there are two big universities, Chalmers and University of Gothenburg (GU), where I did my research internship. Both universities are easily reached from Korsvägen by tram and are only separated by two stations. In my department there are a lot of cooperations with Chalmers, since the science hub of GU was just recently opened and a lot of the research groups worked in laboratories of Chalmers until their move in the new building. The new GU science building is truly on top of new laboratory standard, and it was a pleasure working there. Something I also really liked in the lab was that the whole lab was one open space, and the different research groups were only separated by rows/benches, so you could get in touch with other PhD students and undergraduates and have an exchange of ideas and ask for help. In general, was the cooperation between the groups very good and the weekly seminar together was a nice touch.
In my free time I often took a stroll through the city center or did a trip to the islands around Gothenburg, what I can highly recommend. Those islands were probably the best experiences I had in my exchange. On Saturday I had my little ritual of going for breakfast and work to my favorite coffee place, Kafe Magasinet, which I will really miss. The atmosphere and the people there were really relaxing and comforting.
In total it was a nice experience, and I am grateful that I had this opportunity.
Tips for other Interns
Preperation
Start preparing approx. 4 months before the planned start of the internship
Visa application
No visa required (because EU member)
Internship search
Recommendation of the internship location via contacts
Apartment search
Online, COLIVE appartments
Insurance
DAAD insurance
Formalities on site
Telephone/Internet connection
Retain mobile phone contract from Germany, internet connection through dormitory & Eduroam at the university
Bank/account opening
Retain from Germany
Other
As we know it from Scandinavia, everything works via cash card
Everyday life/leisure time
Going out options
Kafe Magasinet, Slottskogen, Bar Bruno, Kopps, Poppels Citybryggeri, Lisberg
Other
You should definitely try a round of shuffleboard 🙂