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.
Tetyana Fedorchuk prefers to be called Tania. She works as an intern at UniBE International. Her job is to advise students who fled to Switzerland and are interested in continuing their studies at the University of Bern. As Ukrainian, she can greet the newcomers in their mother tongue.
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.
Where are you from?
My name is Klára, I’m from Prague in the Czech Republic. I study social and cultural anthropology and ethnology at Charles University in Prague. At the University of Bern I study social anthropology.
Why the University of Bern??
Where did you go?
My name is Valentine, I went to Lisbon in Portugal. I study pharmaceutical sciences at the University of Bern. In Lisbon I was enrolled as a chemistry student because our curriculum does not allow for a semester abroad. I really wanted to study abroad, so I decided to extend my studies by one semester as I couldn’t find all the courses that I needed in order to continue within the regular bachelor time.