Exchange programmes in times of pandemic – now more than ever!

Innovative model: a researcher tandem on two continents

Sarah Lentz and Nicholas Chan are both doing their PhDs as "researcher tandems" at the Biomaterials research group of Prof. Thomas Scheibel and at the Chemical Engineering research group of the University of Melbourne led by Prof. Greg Qiao. They are conducting research in "Chemical Engineering" and "Biomaterials" on the properties of "perhaps the most fascinating protein-based material" of all, spider silk. According to Nicholas Chan, the advantages of a Joint PhD include benefiting from the expert knowledge of both supervisors, who have their expertise in different fields. Immersion in a new working environment and structures as well as in a different culture during a stay of several months is another benefit, both professionally and personally.

The pandemic prevented the visit to Australia, but not the joint research.

PhD students must spend at least one year at the respective host university as part of their joint PhD. However, the pandemic has made research at the host university, a core part of the dual degree, impossible since March 2020. The pandemic has hit the young scientists in a hot phase of their dual doctorates. However, they are not discouraged by this, but continue undeterred on the path they have chosen. Sarah Lentz had just arrived in Melbourne in spring 2020 for her second research stay when she had to break this off due to pandemic restrictions and return to Bayreuth early. Australia is subject to a comprehensive entry ban for all foreign travellers until further notice. However, the young doctoral student still has hopes of resuming and successfully completing her research in Melbourne this year. Nicholas Chan had already planned his one-year stay in Bayreuth starting in March 2020. However, due to travel restrictions, he has not been able to take this up so far. He now hopes to be able to start his research at the University of Bayreuth at the end of March this year after a one-year delay. Until then, the young scientists will regularly exchange information digitally, both with each other and with their supervisors at their host university.

LLM graduation in Melbourne - postponed but not abandoned!

Tizian Göbel is a lawyer and decided to study for an LLM degree at La Trobe University in Melbourne after completing his studies in Bayreuth as part of a scholarship program. His stay in Australia was also scheduled to begin in July 2020, but had to be postponed until March 2021 due to Covid-19 entry restrictions. For Tizian Göbel, the opportunity to combine gaining additional professional expertise with the chance to live "Down Under" for a year was the reason why he decided to take the law master's in Melbourne after his first state examination.

10 000 miles away from home

Alex Vollebergh has made a big leap from "Down Under" to Bayreuth to gain experience abroad in Germany. In the last bachelor's semester of his engineering studies at La Trobe University in Melbourne, he took advantage of an internship programme with the University of Bayreuth to work for six months in a research group at the Fraunhofer Institute with Prof. Frank Döpper. His six-month stay in Bayreuth was a challenge for him not only because of the great distance of 16,120 kilometres. Living and working for the first time for a longer period of time in another country, in another culture were completely new experiences for Alex.

Alex Vollebergh also had to end his stay in Bayreuth prematurely after just six weeks due to the pandemic. His final thesis, which he wrote after his return to Melbourne, incorporated many of the insights and experiences gained at the Fraunhofer Institute. Despite the shortened duration of his internship, Alex Vollebergh learned a lot in Bayreuth and gained valuable experience. He found the work culture in Germany interesting and the German bureaucracy difficult to understand. In Bayreuth, he made many friends, with whom he definitely wants to stay in touch.