Some students overcame big obstacles to join the International Summer Students Programme at HZB: Traveling 12 hours by bus across the Andes to obtain a visa in Bogotá, borrowing money from here and there to pay the fees for formalities, and maintaining hope when the visa was delayed. One student visited the embassy every day for two weeks, leaving a yellow envelope with a polite reminder each time. And even with a visa, problems could arise last minute. Another student was already at the airport when he was denied boarding because he did not have a return ticket yet. He called our HZB colleagues who answered the phone at 10pm and found a quick solution.
The most important qualities
Perseverance and motivation, these are the qualities of our summer students this year and I am sure they will help them also to blossom in the future, in academia or elsewhere.
At the final presentation, all 20 students were excited and eager to present their projects through a flash talk and an eye-catching poster. They were keen to discuss the science and engage with the audience.
The awards
Two awards were given, the best poster award and an award for the most interesting blog post (see all posts of ISSP24 under the category #summerstudents). The award for the best poster went to Heloise da Silva from Brazil. She investigated MXenes, a new type of energy storage material with many different talents. Her poster was very well designed, she explained it to different audiences with great clarity and could answer even the most difficult questions.
All students in ISSP2024 had written about their experiences and their projects, and many colleagues had read them with great pleasure. At the final presentation, students and audience could cast their votes by distributing three green dots among the 20 posts. Since all posts got a lot of these green dots, it was certainly a difficult decision. But in the end, it was clear: The prize went to Gia Van Tran from Vietnam for his funny and realistic account of the struggle between plans and reality.
We wish all our summer students every success in their next steps: Good luck and maybe: “Auf Wiedersehen”!
