End of my second year in the UK and beginning of my 10-weeks internship in the US

The end of the year was calm and not very stressful particularly due to us not having any exams. The workload was also doable (for Oxford) probably because all professors were focused mainly on the first and third years who were having very important exams at the end of the Trinity. I have successfully finished my last lab report and handed in the lab book on which I spent around 200 hours this year. I also received a certificate for absolving the ‘Building a business’ course, purpose of which was to clarify what does it take to start a company. Admittedly, the certificate is only a paper which doesn’t mean much, however, the lectures and workshops were very interesting and I feel that we have actually learnt something.

The only two things that went ‘wrong’ during last trimester were the weather and volleyball games. The weather was really trying to live to its reputation and so we had only two sunny days during the whole spring. As to volleyball, I have to admit that we have lost 3:0 to Cambridge partly also due to the Tabs referee.

But still, this term was definitely the nicest and most relaxed one, and I couldn’t even have wished better beginning of my internship at Santa Barbara. I should start with the weather – nice 25°C cloud-less sky with bright sun without any unpleasant humidity is a perfect opposite to English clouds, fog, rains, and wind. In addition the UCSB campus is found at the coast and my lab is literally 2 minutes walking to the beach. Also, the mentality of people is very different from the European one. When you are passing someone on the street they will likely smile at you and sometimes even politely ask you how you are doing. That is of course natural thing in restaurants, supermarkets and other social places where people serve/help you. Talking about the supermarkets I have to mention that I was very nicely surprised by the variety of healthy food, organic products etc. It is clear that Californians are very concerned about their lifestyle (in a good way).

We have only started working in the lab but I dare to say the prediction that it is going to be a high quality, well-organised internship. I work on a project for my mentor, who is a PhD student, and my research is focused on magnetoelectric materials, particularly on magnetic insulators which could possibly have application in data storage in computers. This is part of her dissertation and so it is also her own interest to do a good job.

There are also numerous other projects, but most of them are only for American students that unlike to us get paid for the research they conduct. Altogether there are about 100 interns and the whole programme is very well-organised and financially supported by the US government. I am impressed by this whole activity and professionalism by which they are surely to attract many young people to start pursuing their carrier towards science. Being a Czech student I see the likely future decline of science in the Czech Republic due to lack of such activities and support from the government.

If you have any questions related to studying at the Oxford Uniersity or an internship in the US, please don’t hesitate to contact me on my e-mail or my facebook. I am willing to help or give personal advice.

Greetings from California