Survival Kit for Studies  “Are you the one working on a new cure for cancer?”

Florian, who’s currently doing his Master's in biochemistry, talks about how important communication is in science and why nothing happens in most experiments.

The biggest cliché about your school – and to what extent it’s true:

I think one widespread cliché is that scientists spend all day in the lab mixing stuff together and then stand there by themselves mulling over what they’ve mixed together there. We do work in the lab a lot, but a good scientist nowadays also needs to have social skills. Cooperation is everything in science.  

Lots of people have the wrong idea about scientists, too. The notion that you do two experiments and then discover something terrific. It’s not true. You learn to put up with an enormous amount of frustration during your studies. You don't come up with a cure for cancer just like that. Some people spend thirty years working on a single protein that has no known use and then, in the thirty-first year, they find out that this protein helps against various types of cancer and suddenly it's all the rage.

What’s your everyday life like?

The Master's programme in Munich is very specialized. We’re free to select the lab rotation projects that interest us and set our own focus. In my Master's programme on immunology and vaccine development, I've spent most of my time so far attending lectures and block seminars, many of which are held in the afternoon and evening, with a final exam. I also took a Spanish course this semester. 

What couldn't you have done without?

The most important thing is the people I study with. The atmosphere was always super. We gave one another plenty of support, sharing lecture notes and explaining things to any of us who didn't understand something. Even when it came to choosing lab projects, we could simply ask someone else: Hey, you trained in that department, did you have a good time? I feel sorry for people these days who don't have an opportunity to compare notes so regularly and to have this experience.

Which day at uni will you never forget?

One of the funniest days was the day I sat for a relatively difficult exam. We were all totally panicking and I hardly had any time to study for it, so I was pretty out of it when I showed up for the exam. That was the last exam everyone in the programme had to take together. Afterwards, we went out for dinner and then partied. I went to see my family the next day and ended up going without sleep for 40 hours. I was wiped out, but the exam was over and it was cool that we celebrated that as a group.

If you could start over at university, what would you do differently?

I would definitely study biochemistry again. The focus of my current Master’s programme is also the ideal subject for me. On the other hand, I would try to get practical experience earlier on and make more use of past exams to study with. At first I had trouble studying for the exams because it really is different from school. But it’s very easy to use old exams to study with and it usually works out very well.

What did you find the most annoying?

One thing that bothered me was that communication hardly came up at all. I didn’t have to give my first presentation until a few semesters in the programme. By then I was totally out of practice. Which I thought was really a shame because communication is everything in science. And I’d have liked my professors to make more of an effort to impart knowledge clearly and comprehensibly to their students.
  What has often proved a lifesaver for you?

Talking to other students. That has really helped. If someone had a question, we discussed it in the group and tried to find a solution. Looking back, I think it would have been helpful to talk to my professors more often from the start. That’s something that comes quite naturally to me now. But I used to be more inhibited about it.

What did you eat when you were running low on funds?

I did try to live frugally, but fortunately I was never in such straits that I had to worry about buying groceries at the end of the month. Food was more of a problem when I was under pressure: when I had to swot for exams, I didn't have time or any inclination to cook. Although I do actually enjoy cooking a lot. So when pressed for time, I’d usually eat pizza, pesto pasta or just bread and cheese. If I’d had lunch at the cafeteria, that was enough for me.
 

What question do you hear at every family gathering?

“You’re studying biochemistry? Then you're the one working on a new cure for cancer!” Naturally, that’s a subject that interests me, but then I always try to explain what I really do. People have a totally different idea of what we do. Ninety per cent of a biochemist’s life, I explain, involves mixing a transparent substance with another transparent substance – and nothing happens.

What are you proud of?

I’m proud of having managed to find plenty of time for extracurriculars. Getting involved in other groups also helped take my mind off my studies from time to time.  
It was also great when my studies really went well. My Master's thesis, which caused me no end of stress for six months, is probably going to be published in a journal. That means it won't end up in a drawer and other people will see it, which is pretty cool.

What was the highest price you had to pay for a good mark?

Utter exhaustion and little time for anything else. It was worth putting a lot of time into some of the experiments I did. But in other cases I wonder in retrospect why I spent several days to achieve such meagre results. I could have made better use of that time. 

University is also about learning for life. What’s your takeaway so far for the future?

I now know how important it is to work with other people. Cooperation and communication are more important to me now than many technical skills. I’ve also learned to take time out for other things and see what else interests me outside my studies for a change. Whether it's sports or my involvement in the educational initiative Studies Without Borders, I want to broaden my horizons and learn about subjects above and beyond my studies. I’ve attended many seminars with an organisation I went abroad with before university and learned a lot about colonialism, racism and other social issues. That is extremely enriching, because unfortunately my studies don’t cover this sort of stuff at all. 
 

January 2022