PhD student at UiT
I am a PhD candidate in the marine bioprospecting group at the Norwegian College of Fishery Science, Faculty of Life Sciences, Fisheries and Economics at UiT The Arctic University of Norway. I am in my final year and working with antimicrobials from marine resources. The main activity of my PhD is bioactivity profiling and mechanism of action studies of antimicrobial compounds.
I was very happy to have this internship because I got it from the waiting list. To be honest, I was disappointed that I did not receive it in the first place, but I was very happy that I sealed it in the end. The reason why I am mentioning this is that we should never give up on our hope and continue working on it to keep the hope alive. I am grateful to Digital Life Norway (DLN) for this wonderful opportunity to meet and work with industries and, obviously, for giving me the full funding for 3 months.
I started my industrial internship on 12 September 2022 and finished it on 9 December 2022 at Amicoat AS. Amicoat AS is a Norwegian biotechnology company that discovers, develops, and markets new antimicrobial sciences for broad applications in a variety of industries. Their current focus is medical equipment, and they are also exploring the use of their technology in other industries. It was a great experience for me as I was able to work on a very interesting project on stability studies of antimicrobial peptides. It was not only about work; the environment was very friendly. I got the opportunity to attend the Christmas dinner with my colleagues from Amicoat. We had a very surprising and fun evening, as we did not know where we were going except for the organizing committee. In summary, it was a great event, as we first played bowling, then dinner at the top of the mountain (Fjellheisen, Tromsø). We had planned to observe the northern lights at the end; however, the weather did not allow it. But it could not stop us to finish the night, we went to the city and enjoyed the rest of the night until late midnight in the sky bar of the Clarion Hotel where the CEO, sales, and marketing colleagues were staying, and they came from Oslo.
I met some amazing people. I was able to experience the working environment in a company. It was a good experience outside academia that will help me think about my future career in the industry. It could be that this network will guide me to a future employer if I decide to move to the industry or a future collaborator if I want to stay in academia.
In conclusion, I would like to thank DLN again for this amazing opportunity. I would recommend to all PhDs who are out there to take advantage of this opportunity.
Centre for Digital Life Norway Industry Internship
PhD students in Norwegian biotechnology have the opportunity to explore career options outside academia through Digital Life Norway’s Internship Program.
New 2023 call is out! Apply by 12 March 2023. ►