I was only nine years old when I first visited Switzerland. At that time, I was overwhelmed by what every travel guide will tell you - come to Switzerland for its grandiose landscape. However, what I didn’t realize is that however jaw-dropping Mount Titlis or Lake Geneva can be, the real beauty of Switzerland comes from its people, its schools and its cultures.
Over the summer, I worked in Campus Biotech of the Federal Institute of Technology of Switzerland (EPFL), which is right between lake Geneva and the UN. Starting from the first time I stepped into my host lab, the Defitech Chair in Brain Machine Interface (CNBI), I was immediately shocked by the incredible international backgrounds of our lab: as a lab with around 20 members, we come from over 10 different countries. Thus, every coffee break and lunch became a mesmerizing cultural experience. One day we could talk about Serbia's school system, the next day France’s music festival or Austria’s traditional cuisine. Indeed, as of 2017, over 40% of Geneva’s population is not Swiss citizens (or at least so I heard). As a result, living in Geneva, it doesn’t take long for me to feel like I truly belonged, for I know being international there is almost more of a norm than exception. Indeed, if you think about it, it is incredible how every person comes from a distinctive background, and yet in a sense we are all the same. I believe there are few cities in this world that could rival Switzerland’s cultural tolerance. And such cultural exposure is indeed a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
Moreover, I was also amazed by the autonomy I enjoyed in my research experience. My project was on using Brain Machine Interface to assist in the symbolic control of drones, with a specific focus on developing a classification algorithm to improve workload-level detection. And starting from day one, my advisors did a fantastic job introducing the background of the project, but they also made sure to give me great autonomy in defining the end goal, milestones and timeline of my research. Therefore, I was able to choose a research focus that best fit my background and my interests. What’s more, I also had great autonomy in choosing how to get help. In other words, there was never any supervisor for my research to keep an eye on my every progress. Instead, I was responsible for getting the help I need, actively discussing my research with other lab members for inspiration, and presenting my research to the general lab meeting. This experience really helped me to understand that, as a researcher, I need to take full ownership of my project and should always be prepared to be proactive. And I also believe that this experience has indeed helped me to hone the communication skills necessary for such a career.
Last but not least, I very much appreciated the community of the ThinkSwiss awardees. For the two-day trip we took together in Bern and Mount Titlis, I quite enjoyed learning about each other’s research and experience in Switzerland, and I felt very bonded with such a closed-knit community. Going on scooter tours, walking around Bern with beers, and chatting until 4AM over a bottle of wine, I felt I connected deeply with my fellow awardees. Indeed, we all chose to embark on an adventure to pursue knowledge in a completely foreign country, to embrace life with energy and optimism. With such a shared passion, we were really the perfect travel companions.
When I wrote down this post, two months had already passed since the conclusion of my stay in Geneva. Even tram stops that I memorized so well had begun to slip away from my memory. Nonetheless, I know that if you told me that I had to move to Geneva now, I would not hesitate, not even for a second, to call it my home one more time.