Patricia Bieri studies political science at the University of Bern. Her exchange semester at Université Laval in Canada encouraged her to embrace the unknown. In this interview, Patricia reflects on how she experienced classes at Université Laval, the importance of language in Canadian politics, and why she believes going on an exchange semester is worth it.
Chisato Todaka is an exchange student from Keio University in Japan. She studies social anthropology, but her real passion is the great outdoors. At the end of her exchange stay in Switzerland she will climb Mont Blanc – the highest mountain in Western Europe – with her father, an experienced mountain guide.
Luca Mast came home from South Africa and found his views on society profoundly changed. As a Bachelor student in English language and literature, he has a good ear for languages. In this interview, he explains why he chose to learn isiXhosa and Afrikaans, two of the many languages spoken in South Africa and how his interactions with lecturers were different from what he was used to in Switzerland.
Image: Lizé Myburgh
During the summer holidays, students from all over the world come to Bern to attend the university’s international summer schools. Lizé Myburgh is one of them. She gives us an insight into her experience at the Summer School on Climate Change and talks about the most precarious climate change issues facing her Rainbow Nation.
Too many cystic fibrosis patients in Africa die young and often without ever having been diagnosed. In many African countries there are too few test devices that could diagnose the disease. Nada and Michèle, two doctoral students at the University of Bern, launched a crowdfunding campaign to buy a test device and were overwhelmed by the result.
There is a place in Europe where the climate is chilly, people are patriotic, and the mellow scent of freshly baked pies lingers in the air. Jule Ksinsik, political science student at the University of Bern, tells us about her exchange experience at the University of Tartu and explains why she advises all political science students to visit Estonia.
Last year, Tibo, a master’s student in biomedical engineering, decided to trade the Belgian flatlands for the Swiss Alps. Tibo has many stories to tell about his experience as an exchange student: from navigating Swiss bureaucracy to taking freezing-cold swims in the river Aare!
Antonina and Kateryna Antonenko came to Bern fleeing the war in Ukraine. The two medical professionals received a grant from the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF) to work and research at the Inselspital for one year. In this interview, the two sisters talk about the differences between working as doctors in Bern and Kyiv.
Elena studies Sport Science and English at the University of Bern. As a mandatory part of her degree, she had to study or work in an English-speaking country. She decided to go on a work exchange to the Republic of Ireland.
At the beginning of July, the executive board of the University of Bern welcomed a leadership delegation from several universities in Israel. The aim of their visit was to discuss topics at the interface between research and management.
Universities face common cross-border challenges, such as climate change and disruptive technologies. Read more “Israeli academic leadership delegation visits Bern”