Example of Marie Kupjetz

The bridge between clinical rehabilitation and exercise neuroscience - Valens Switzerland

My motivation for coming to the little Swiss mountain village Valens was the neuroscientific research of Dr. Bansi, which I came across while working on my review in M3. Together with his team, he compares continuous and high intensity interval training exploring positive effects on quality of life, symptomatology and neuroimmunology in patients with MS. Beyond getting insights into this and several fascinating research projects, I was able to independently take over the sports therapy of predominantly neurological patients, where I practiced taking into account the individual needs that the treatment of specific diseases requires. I was enthusiastic about the quick warm-hearted integration into the interdisciplinary team of sports therapists, physiotherapists and occupational therapists. Not least because of the dreamlike landscape within the Swiss mountains as well as the numerous lakes in the valleys of this region, my time at Valens felt more like being on vacation than having to work. I am very grateful for these experiences and will definetly never forget them.

Example of Sara Ullrich

Stellenbosch University - Cape Town, South Africa

Due to the international partnership of the Paderborn University with the Stellenbosch University in South Africa (thanks to Prof. Baumeister and Prof. Louw), I had the chance to study and live in Cape Town for 3.5 months. I collected EEG and Force Plate data for my master thesis about sensorimotor control during dual task single leg stances and was also able to observe and help other people out with their projects like a study about foot prosthetics, gait analysis with kids which had cerebral palsy, rugby teams which did some performance tests, … . Even though it wasn't always easy peasy lemon squeezy, it was super interesting to get to know a different system than in Paderborn in regards of the link between the laboratory and university. So if you're going to be frustrated at some point because something isn't working out, don't worry, just do your best and it is all going to be fine!

All in all, Cape Town - the mother city is simply beautiful and exciting, sports opportunities are endless and I'm thankful for so many wonderful people I met during my adventurous time in one of the most diverse countries in the world.

Baie dankue, Stellies!

If you too are interested in taking a semester abroad, have a look on the information provided by the international office.

Example of a Scientific Career by Elena Bonke:

I am a PhD student at the Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at the University Hospital Munich. 75% of my position includes clinical work where I am investigating children and adolescents after mild traumatic brain injuries as part of a five-year longitudinal study. Here, I am mainly responsible for acquiring and analyzing advanced magnetic resonance imaging sequences and neuropsychological tests, as well as for the clinical data management. In parallel, I am a visiting PhD student at the Psychiatry Neuroimaging Laboratory at Harvard Medical School in Boston. In the Boston lab I am actively involved in projects investigating the long-term effects of repetitive head impacts in former American Football players. Moreover, I receive prestigious training in processing and analyzing multimodal neuroimaging data from renowned experts in the field.

I found my current PhD position after doing an internship in the Boston lab in 2018 while studying the ANSE master and after writing my master’s thesis in the Munich lab in 2019. Continuing my PhD in the same labs allows me to deepen my knowledge in the field and to continue working on the projects that I already started at that time. 

What I enjoy most about my work is bringing technological advancements in advanced neuroimaging techniques (developed in the Boston lab) into the clinic (Munich lab) to improve healthcare.