CeMi around the world – Euan in Adelaide!

In this series of blogs we hear from students recently returned from academic placements about their experiences. Euan Urquhart is a fourth-year PhD student under the supervision of Dr Cristina Gonzalez-Garcia.

During my placement in Adelaide, I had the incredible opportunity to work with Dr. Christina Bursill’s group in the Vascular Research Centre at the South Australia Health and Medical Research Institute. My work focused on conducting an in vivo study of the bioactive hydrogels developed by our team at CeMi. This experience provided me with invaluable hands-on training in an animal research center and yielded some exciting new results for my thesis!

Outside the lab, I took full advantage of the chance to travel around the country. I visited my cousin in Sydney, where we celebrated his birthday at a German brew pub, and a friend in Melbourne, where we spent a relaxing evening at a hot spring. Toward the end of my stay, my parents came to visit, and we explored the landscapes and indigenous wildlife of Kangaroo Island. To cap it off, I spent a lovely two weeks with my girlfriend driving around New Zealand. One of our highlights was visiting the Zealandia wildlife reserve in Wellington, which is a haven for native species.

Beyond work and travel, I spent time training for throwing and Olympic lifting. I was fortunate to find welcoming and knowledgeable groups in Adelaide to train with. These activities helped me meet new people and greatly enriched my overall experience of the placement.

Overall, it was an unforgettable experience, and I urge anyone with the opportunity to do something similar to go for it!