Absolvento praktika Bielefeldo universitete

After getting my BSc in biochemistry from Vilnius University, I decided to shift my focus more towards biology. Animal behaviour in particular is a field in which I have had interest for a while, which is why I decided to use the opportunity for a six-month internship at Bielefeld University.

During my stay in Bielefeld, I studied the behaviour of a leaf beetle and how inbreeding might affect it. While I did not have to perform a lot of complicated procedures in the laboratory, this study allowed me to massively improve my knowledge and practical skills in biostatistics and helped me appreciate how important they are for any scientific inquiry, Furthermore, I became better acquainted with scientific writing and for the first time had to report experimental results in English and not Lithuanian. Overall, this internship has helped me not only to shift my focus towards animal behaviour research, but also become a better researcher.

Another important improvement, both on a personal and professional level, was the fact that I managed to improve my German skills and become more comfortable with the language. I am by no means able to freely communicate in all situations, but it is one step closer to becoming fluent.

Would I do it again? Definitely! Despite the times I felt homesick or lonely, it was a great experience, which helped me develop many skills I would not have been able to develop had I decided not to do it.