The internship experience of Master's student from Maastricht University

I’m Stéphanie Bergmann, I’m 27 years old and from Maastricht University, the Netherlands. For my master in Global Health I came to the Institute of Climate and Environmental Research at Jinan University in Guangzhou, to conduct research on the seasonal effects of air pollution on morbidity. I study Global Health at Maastricht University and I had the opportunity to write my master thesis at Jinan University. I was happy to accept this opportunity because I was very interested in environmental research and wanted to experience how research was being done in another country. Furthermore, I wanted to experience a different culture.

I stayed at Jinan University for four months. And I experienced the different culture, different food, and made a lot of amazing friends. At the start of this experience I came to the airport and some students were there to pick me up. This was great for me since I think it can be very difficult if you come to a new country. The students supported me if I had any questions and were there to help me with all the basic needs.

For my master thesis I got a space in an office where I could work. I worked together with some of the students, they supported me in conducting my research. Next to that I worked closely together with a professor, who supervised me during my stay. I was free to ask any questions related to my research and had a lot of support. The support from the staff and the students was great. Because for me it was the first time in conducting research and the first time, I was away from my home country for such a long time.

Next to the research I was invited to go to Shenzhen to attend a conference on environment and health. This was a nice experience, from which I learned a lot.

Besides the hard work and studying I did during my visit; I also had some time to experience the city life of Guangzhou. I mainly enjoyed some great food in the city center of Guangzhou and had to opportunity to do some shopping and visit some sights in Guangzhou.

Overall, I had a great experience in interning for the Institute of Environmental and Climate Research at Jinan University. The students were very friendly and very helpful, and I made some very good friends during my stay. I experienced some of the Chinese culture, which is very different from the Dutch or European culture. It was an amazing experience which I will treasure for the rest of my life. I would highly recommend studying at this institute as the staff/students are very welcoming and it is very informative, in ways of gaining new knowledge.