A group of dedicated volunteers established the Ukrainian Society at the University of Bern. What does it stand for, what are their plans and how can others join them? UniBE International spoke to two of its founding members: Oksana Iamshanova, postdoctoral researcher at the Institute of Biochemistry and Molecular Medicine, and Ruslan Hlushchuk, lecturer at the Institute of Anatomy.
Igor Tokarchuk was an MD-PhD student at the University of Bern. When he and his family returned home to Ukraine and Igor started a job at a biotech company, the future looked bright. Then the war changed everything. He talks to Lenka Fehrenbach, international program manager at UniBE International, about coping with the strains of war and how setting up the refugee camp led to reviving an old bread factory.
Trying to understand what people think and why they have formed a certain opinion. This is one of the reasons why Michèle Häfliger, a master’s student in Eastern European Studies, wanted to spend a semester at Kazan State University. For the first time, she applied in January 2020.
Zahra is a medical parasitologist from Iran. She came to Bern on a Global Connections fellowship in summer 2021. The fellowship funds short stays for early-career researchers. During her PhD studies, Zahra attended the Middle Eastern Biology of Parasitism (MeBoP) summer school, where she met Isabel Roditi, co-director of the Institute of Cell Biology at the University of Bern.
Robin Steiner studied English and IT at the University of Bern. He went on a volunteering exchange to Staffordshire in the United Kingdom. As for many exchange students, the COVID-19 pandemic made planning and travelling difficult for Robin. His exchange experience turned out to be very different from what he had at first imagined.
On 20 December 2021, UniBE-representatives in the working groups of The Guild held their annual get-together. They shared insights from their discussions with colleagues working at the other 20 universities of The Guild. This event was a welcome occasion to meet six newly-appointed members of The Guild working groups and our two new Vice Rectors, Virginia Richter and Hugues Abriel.
The University of Bern is launching a new funding scheme to finance research stays for PhD students based in Africa. Every year, six students studying at a member university of the African Research Universities Alliance (ARUA) will come to Bern to join a research team and receive tutoring for approximately six months.
On 4 November 2021, the ambassador of South Africa to Switzerland, Sankie Mthembi-Mahanyele, is holding a guest lecture on contemporary South Africa. Students and staff at the University of Bern are invited to attend. Registration in advance is required. Please get in touch with Annie Cottier.
The One Health summer school for Bachelor and Master students gave its participants a glimpse into the cutting-edge research conducted at the IRC One Health. As they learned more about the science, they followed the story of a girl that had cancer and examined which factors could explain her mysterious illness.
Professor Richter, you have lived and worked in many different countries, could you please tell us more?
I see myself very much as a European, and all my longer residences were in European countries: Czechoslovakia, where I was born, Germany, where I received my education, Great Britain, where I stayed at different periods of my academic career, and last but not least, Switzerland, where I have been living since my appointment as professor of Modern English Literature in 2007.