‘I loved working on a project for the whole semester’

When a teacher at her home university suggested the exchange programme Biotechnology at the Hanze University of Applied Sciences, Alicia Fitzpatrick, student Molecular Biology at the Southeast Technological University in Ireland, was very excited to explore the city of Groningen and learn more about the science we do here.

'There was not that much free choice when I decided I wanted to go abroad, I could do a traineeship in France or the Biotechnology course in Groningen. But I heard good stories about the Hanze so I decided to give the course a try, and it did not disappoint!

The programme was really good, I learned a lot about all kinds of biotechnology techniques, plants and bioprocess engineering. I even took a course about Molecular Biotechnology that was technically not on my agreement, but it was very interesting.

The best thing for me was the project. We got to spend the whole semester working on a project about fluorescence in plants, and the way salt and nitrate concentration effects the fluorescence of chlorophyl. I’m used to just doing one experiment and then moving on to the next, so it was much fun to stick with a longer project and actually be able to go deeper into the material.

Besides studying I also really liked exploring Groningen. The campus is really big and well put together, so that was very nice. It reminds me of home a little bit, but it was different enough for new experiences. I was especially blown away by the amount of students that live here, it is a real young city. It was fun to see al the sights and connect with the other international students, so I would definitely recommend people coming here for an exchange programme. I don’t know what other courses the Hanze offers, but this one is very good!'