BiocatCode Expander Stories:

Beyond the Bench #2

Rosa

Hi everyone! 13 months ago, I packed my whole life in two suitcases and moved across Europe, from Spain to Germany. Looking back now, I can definitely say it has been a year full of learning and new experiences. Today, I would like to show you what the daily life of a BiocatCodeExpander PhD student in Berlin looks like:

I start my days walking to the Chemistry & Biochemistry Institute of the Freie Universität Berlin, where the lab is located. Since October began the weather has been colder, and although everyone is missing summer already, I think Berlin looks beautiful during the fall:

When I get to the lab, first thing I need is a big cup of coffee, and then I am ready to sit down in front of my computer to start working on my project. I am aiming to study the impact of introducing non-canonical amino acids (NCAA) into different enzymes relevant to the pharmaceutical and chemical industries. For that, I am trying to identify suitable scaffolds that allow us to incorporate the NCAA, studying the molecular dynamics of these scaffolds and simulating the effect the NCAA would have on the structure and function of the different proteins:

The rest of the day usually passes between meetings, journal clubs and, sometimes, a bit of wet-lab work. I would say I am quite lucky with my lab colleagues, even if our projects are quite different, we always try to help each other out, and give advice and sometimes we even stay for dinner and cook something together in the lab kitchen. Lately, we have been trying to have a “Cultural night” once a month, in which one of us cooks something typical from our country of origin.

Sometimes, I also have to travel for my PhD. Last October I had to go to Amsterdam for the first BiocatCodeExpander School; and last April, I had to go to Graz for the BiocatCodeExpander Spring School. During the month of May, I also traveled to Crete for the 5th NextGenBioCat symposium. As a person who enjoys traveling, I love having the opportunity to see new places while also learning about science and meeting other PhD students and other experienced researchers in my field. Actually, now I am involved in the organization of the next BCCE Winter School, which will be held here in Berlin in December. This time, even if I don’t have to travel, I am also very excited to show the other BiocatCodeExpander PhD students my new city and get updated on how their projects are going.

Since mental health is also crucial during the PhD, I try to take a break when necessary and work out at least twice a week. Luckily, the FU Berlin offers a crazy amount of sports for PhD students to sign up for. This semester I’m enrolled in Archery lessons!

This is everything for now. For my next blog, I will already be done with my secondment in Amsterdam (planned for Spring 2025) and I will probably be getting ready for my secondment in Atlanta (planned for Fall 2025) so I am very excited to tell you about that.

Until then,

Rosa