BiocatCode Expander Stories:

Beyond the Bench #3

Cecilia

14 months ago I was traveling from the other side of the Atlantic Ocean, with a lot of expectations to start my new adventure as a PhD student in Spain.

Since September last year, I have been a doctoral researcher in the European Doctoral Network BiocatCodeExpander and at the University of Basque Country as a PhD candidate in the Heterogeneous Biocatalysis Laboratory in CIC Biomagune, San Sebastian.

Everything was new for me after moving to Spain from a small country like Uruguay, but thanks to the support of my lab mates and my PI, I am getting used to life here and I am enjoying it as my second home in the world. Considering the project, I am studying the development of site-directed immobilization techniques through the incorporation of non-canonical amino acids in different enzymes studied in our laboratory. Since the beginning, I have learned a great number of techniques, and I continue acquiring different knowledge due to the great possibilities of exchange that exist with my laboratory colleagues and even other students in the research center and from the network

Being part of the HetBioCat lab has not only allowed me to incorporate scientific knowledge but also to learn about the culture of different countries, for example, we have already made two ‘meals of the nations’, where each one brings the typical food from their country and also we have different funny and exiting out of the lab activities, during the summer we made a trip to the Mountain and played a paintball competition! If you want to know more about the members and the exciting activities we do, follow us on Instagram! @hetbio_tales

Something that is very enriching is that every six months we meet in person with my other colleagues from the network as Liu and Rosa have mentioned, weeks that allow us to exchange experiences from the academic and non-academic fields.

This is everything for now. For the next blog, I will be able to tell you how my secondment in the industry was, since in January 2025 I am going to be part of Enginzyme for three months. I am very excited about this new experience that is coming.

Until then,

Cecilia