By summerstudent Rohn Cephas> After discovering the HZB summer student program in LINKEDIN; I did immediately apply: Since that moment, my eyes were glued to my email to see if my application would bear the result. I was more than happy when I was listed among the International Summer School Students 2024 followed by the VIPERLAB project. In HZB, I am working on a project on perovskite solar cells which I could barely do in my home country Kenya due to the unavailable conditions required for their fabrication: A clean room and an inert environment are nothing to even imagine in the labs I wasRead More →

By summerstudent Samora Amanda Buthelezi> It took me three weeks to adapt in Berlin and the laboratory at HZB. Many times, I walked alone. I usually kept quiet and felt lonely while I was with others. I felt very bad thinking that other people would think that I was avoiding them on purpose. I realized that for me to adapt, I must be open-minded, expect some differences in a new place, try new things like eating new food, accept new ideas, and hang around with other local people. I am a person who is calm, shy, and gentle. I overcame shyness by communicating more withRead More →

By summerstudent Julen Lasarte> An English proverb says: “A calm sea doesn’t make good sailors”. This is one of the reasons that made me come to Berlin. Obviously, it’s not that Berlin was for me “a bad sea”; I am passionate about history, coming to Berlin was a real luxury and luck for me. On top of that I had to come to work in what I like the most. But coming here made me get out of my comfort zone. I confess that the days before coming to Berlin were not easy, I’m a person who thinks a lot about his worries: “Will IRead More →

By summerstudent Heloise da Silva> One month ago, I had never been on a plane or even visited an airport before, let alone traveled to another country. My life was familiar: I have been working on a project for almost three years in Brazil, knew my way back home, knew which train to take, and how to behave properly. I could even handle groceries by myself, which in Berlin, feels like running a marathon because you have to be quick — the line moves fast!Read More →