Gaining experience A solid grounding Studying abroad expands Claudia Lotter received your horizons Swiss Nanotechnology PhD Award During their master’s studies, numerous students on the nanoscience program gain As part of her master’s thesis at Basel Uni- experience abroad and apply for financial versity’s Department of Pharmaceutical aid in the form of Argovia Travel Grants. Sciences, former nanoscience student Due to the coronavirus pandemic, how- Claudia Lotter investigated how lipid ever, many students were unable to go nanoparticles developed for gene therapy ahead with their plans to study abroad. can be optimized by varying the lipid In 2022, a degree of normality re- composition. turned, allowing students to complete She completed this work in the first their master’s theses at international uni- year of her doctoral dissertation and pub- versities and receive financial aid through lished the results in the European Journal the Argovia Travel Grant program. of Pharmaceutics and Biopharmaceutics. Milan Liepelt wrote his master’s thesis In recognition of this publication, Claudia in the field of quantum biology at the Uni- was awarded a Swiss Nanotechnology PhD versity of California, Los Angeles (USA). Award sponsored by the Hightech Zen- Philippe van der Stappen went to Monash trum Aargau at the Swiss NanoConven- University in Melbourne (Australia) to tion in summer 2022. study regions of the cell that are respon- Report: http://bit.ly/3HSdh8V sible for cellular movement. As part of her master’s thesis at the University of California, San Francisco (USA), Tamara Utzinger is studying immune cells that can cross the blood-brain barrier and trig- ger inflammation in the event of neuro- degenerative diseases in the brain. Lastly, through his research at Harvard Univer- sity (USA), Nicolai Jung contributed to the development of vaccines against malaria parasites. Mobility nanoscience program: http://bit.ly/3Jss64m Report about Nicolai Jung: http://bit.ly/3luCiQ2 “I would recommend that all students do the same and spend some time abroad. It might involve some extra work at first, but it’s definitely worthwhile!” Nicolai Jung former nanoscience student and now research assistent at the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research in Melbourne At the Swiss NanoConvention 2022, Claudia Lotter (Australia) was presented with a Swiss Nanotechnology PhD Award by Marcus Morstein (Hightech Zentrum Aargau). (Image: T. Byrne) 14 SNI Annual Report 2022