A Melange of Nationalities

By Vivian Wan

Although summer is over, I’ve had these responses gathering dust on my hard drive for a while, and I really wanted to showcase the wonderful people I worked with over the summer. The Hansel Lab is not only diverse in that we had a wide range of positions from undergraduate to postdoc, but also in that almost everybody was from a different country — and the few Americans in the group were of different backgrounds. I, for example, am Chinese-American.

It was natural for us to be curious about each others’ cultures, reflecting upon our similarities and differences over lunch. In particular, it was always interesting to hear about non-American education systems in addition to American college experiences outside of UChicago. So to compile all these different points of views into one location, I interviewed the members of the Hansel Lab, asking them about their pathway through science.

1. Tell me about your education and scientific background, especially in contrast to that offered in the US. 

Christian, PI (Germany): For high school, I went to a monastery school where students picked four subjects to specialize in for the last three years of high school. I picked German (similar to English literature classes), Biology, History, and one other subject. My impression is that Germany offers a stronger education in high school, where students stay for five years, since more was taught. Whereas in the US, it seems that the emphasis and the brunt of education is given to universities.

The difference between Germany and the US is that students proceed directly to university — as in there is no undergrad — which is 5 years long. You can think of it as undergrad and med school combined. Your 5 years are split in half. The first part is where you take general classes, so there is a wide variety of subjects from zoology to botany, but there is little to no laboratory work although students may have summer lab jobs. The second half is where you focus on research. I personally spent my first 2.5 years at the university specializing in zoology, and I spent the second 2.5 studying human brain anatomy in Zurich, Switzerland. There, I worked in labs.

The second option after high school is to go to specialized schools. The translation from German is “specific high school.” If you wanted to become, for example an engineer, you would attend these schools. They are like technical schools but at a higher level.

Tahra, PhD candidate (US): I went to a small private, all-girls school for high school so there weren’t a lot of options for science classes. We did have some APs, but there were only two of us in AP physics which is what I took. At Cornell, it was all about engineering all the time. We had tons of mechanics, physics and design classes, but only bioengineers had to take bio at all. We had to determine our major by our second year and must have completed general bio by the end of that year as well. For BME (biomechanical engineering), we also had to take biochem and at least two other upper level bios, but that was about it. I got into neurobiology from my research experiences, not class.

Giorgio, Postdoc (Italy): My interest in science made me choose the so called “Liceo Scientifico” (scientific high school). In the Italian system, within each type of high school, classes are determined nationally, with little or no choice at all, apart from some optional classes usually in the afternoon with no tests or requirements, such as drama or competitive sport teams. This had 5 years of math, 3 years of physics, 2 of biology, 1 of chemistry, 1 of “astronomical geography.” These classes were compulsory together with humanities and physical education. This is considered “scientific” especially because, differently than the “classical” high school (“Liceo Classico”) it requires much more math and physics and does not requires ancient Greek. However the scientific method experiences with an experimental approach is generally very limited, and, in my case, including only some physics experiments and few simple biological experiences such as DNA extraction.

After high school, still looking forward to the idea of basic science to enjoy, understand and take care of the environment or the human organism, I chose a program in Cellular and Molecular Biology. The program required traditional general classes together with more specific ones focused on biochemistry and cellular/molecular biology. It included, for the 3 years BSc, courses of basic science, genetics and molecular biology, evolutionary and environmental biology, animal biology.

After my BSc I choose to complete the MSc in the same program. The course work was pretty intense but there was probably much less lab classes than in American programs, offering only some small lab classes, a quarter in a lab at the third year and a full year in a lab at the second year of the MSc. The program, as often for science in Italian universities, was not very flexible as it may be here, with just few optional courses, and also less focused, probably, on pragmatical issues rather than in acquiring a broad and sound scientific culture.

Heather, Postdoc (Canada): I went to the University of Western Ontario for my undergrad. I decided in my first year that I wanted to do science, and took a variety of general science courses. In my second year I focused in biology, and took more bio related stuff (organic chem, biochem, ecology, ect.). In my 3rd year I applied and was accepted into a medical science program and decided to take physiology among other things (pharmacology, immunology, anatomy). In my 4th year I was in the honors physiology program and took mostly advanced physiology courses.  However, the university also required us to take courses in languages and another social science or humanities. I chose to take English in my first year, and psychology throughout.

At the end of it all, I graduated with an honors in bachelor of medical sciences (H.BMSc) with a specialization in physiology and a major in psychology.

I did my graduate school at the University of Toronto. The first 18 months I was in a Master’s program, and then I defended and passed a transfer exam, and switched to a PhD program. After a year in the PhD I passed another exam (similar to the “quals” they have here but we don’t call it that). I was in the department of physiology, but I was also in the program of neuroscience so the few courses that I had to take in grad school were all neuroscience related. I defended my PhD thesis after 4 years.

2. What research opportunities were open to you?
Christian, PI (Germany): There were many opportunities to work in labs during the school year and the summer, however there were no established fellowship programs.

Tahra, PhD candidate (US): I worked in labs both during the school year and in the summers (as a tech, no fellowships). There were plenty of research ops if you actively looked for them and many times research could be counted as a class for credit.

Giorgio, Postdoc (Italy): The lab experience was pretty limited to few very basic labs of microbiology, histology, physics, botany, biochemistry and molecular biology. However, as an improvement in comparison to the system running in the previous decade, we were required to spend a quarter full time in a lab with our own small project at the third year of the B.Sc. At the end of the M.Sc., however, a full year was dedicated to work full time on an experimental project. The most common way to have a study abroad experience was to enroll in the European Exchange “Erasmus program”. However my personal choice was to find on my own a summer internship in Germany, unfortunately with little support from the university and professors, if any. Another opportunity I got during my PhD (although not specifically from my program) was an international summer school in Neuroscience in Japan, where I could work in a lab for a couple of months.

Heather, Postdoc (Canada): Most undergrads don’t start working in labs until their 3rd or 4th years. There aren’t a lot of fellowships for undergrads so most were volunteers or paid summer students. I didn’t start working in a lab until my 4th year honors thesis project. Then I became a paid summer student in the same lab that summer.

 

3. What kind of research have you done in the past?

Christian, PI (Germany): I started working on the cerebellum (what the Hansel Lab studies today) from the start, but studied the visual cortex for my PhD. In the cerebellum, I studied nitric oxide signaling. It was significant as it was the first gas transmitter found, a part of white matter pathway.

Tahra, PhD candidate (US): Until this lab, I worked in a physiology lab doing data analysis rather than acquisition. I wrote computer programs and reconstructed simulations of actual neurons to use in an ongoing study of ALS. I also worked in a neurobiology lab with zebrafish doing imaging experiments and helping to create a software that could track and analyze the fish’s movements throughout the night for studies on circadian rhythms.

Giorgio, Postdoc (Italy): I have started my experience in neurobiology during my internship in Germany and, soon after during my M.Sc project, during which I had my first experience about neuronal transmission and plasticity. Since my PhD I worked on the neuronal plasticity, first focusing on structural plasticity of cerebellar climbing fibres and their regenerative properties (using in vivo gene silencing and himmunohistochemistry), then moving to an experimental model for multiple sclerosis (the experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis) in collaboration with people with a variety of expertise and looking both to cerebellum and striatum. Finally I have been recently working here at the UoC on synaptic and non-synaptic plasticity of cerebellar Purkinje cells mainly by means of patch-clamp.

Heather, Postdoc (Canada): Most of my research was focused on the cerebellum. My undergrad research was on the arm movements/mechanics involved with throwing a baseball. I was interested to see the differences with increasing skill and the deficits involved with patients with cerebellar lesions or disorders.  My graduate research was on motor learning in the cerebellum. I studied eye movements in cats, and looked at a the vestibulo-ocular reflex, which a reflex whose learning is dependent on synaptic plasticity within the cerebellum. I also studied whether mGluR1 and GABAB receptors were involved with learning in this reflex. In general I did a lot of behavioral stuff before I came to Chicago.

4. Any other observations on schooling?

Christian, PI (Germany): University in Germany are like state schools here with large student bodies. There are no dorms, and students find housing in apartments. American universities let students have more liberty in choosing subjects & study matter.

Heather, Postdoc (Canada): I think schools in Canada and the USA are pretty similar except for the following:
– There is a distinct difference between colleges and universities in Canada. Colleges are like community colleges and offer diplomas. Only universities can give degrees.
– Canadian universities don’t require the GRE or any other standardized test for admissions. We apply based on our high school marks and courses.
– There are not a lot of private universities in Canada. There are none in Ontario (where I am from), everything is public.
– Tuition is a lot lower. Ontario has the highest tuition rate in Canada, and I paid about $4,000-5,000/year during my undergrad. My last year of grad school the tuition as about $7,000/year. Right now, there are riots and protests in Quebec because students think they are paying too much for tuition. They only pay about $3,000 per/year.