In the frame of the international strategies and common actions of the Écoles normales supérieures in France, ENS de Lyon has taken the lead in the creation of a partnership with the Indian Institutes of Science Education and Research (IISER) in India.

In 2018 the ENS-IISER network implemented a framework agreement allowing their institutions to collaborate on different levels: development of exchange programs, joint training, seminars, joint research and publications, as well as research internships.

Ananya CHANDRA's experience at ENS de Lyon

Ananya CHANDRA is a 22 years old Masters student at IISER Mohali. Her research interest is studying the cell biology of neurodegenerative diseases. As a part of the BIOSANTEXC program, she has successfully completed a six-month internship at ENS de Lyon, under the supervision of Dr. Bertrand MOLLEREAU.

Research is one career that involves global collaboration and input; in that matter she was greatly interested to get an exposure to work in an international environment. Labs at ENS de Lyon work on a wide range of interesting questions and the School is known for its exceptional research infrastructure and outstanding results, making it a particularly attractive choice to her.

The administrative work can be rather complex with all the procedures for the visa and accommodation. However, the BIOSANTEXC program was here to help her and made it easier for Ananya to get all the necessary documents ; although she recalls it was the most stressful part of the process.

Being a part of this program made the process easier, it gave a sense that you are not alone. In any case of inconvenience, the BIOSANTEXC program try their best to resort the problem, and moreover there is a cohort of students in the same program who always have your back!

Communication outside of the workspace would prove difficult for Ananya because of the language barrier. Hopefully, when at work, everyone would speak English which made it easier for her to settle in.

Scientifically, she had the most extraordinary experience. She had enough independence and guidance on her project. Her colleagues believed in exchanging knowledge and ideas and gave very helpful suggestions. She acknowledges that the MOLLEREAU team is a very healthy workplace environment where they all share a cooperative and a collaborative mindset.

This internship gave me an amazing exposure to research. I worked with a model system which I had never worked with before, so definitely all the techniques I used were new. Apart from getting to use new techniques, this internship taught me how to troubleshoot problems, build systematic lab routines and gave me a sense of collaboration with other researchers.

The lab (LBMC) also organized weekly research talks which gave an overview of the research happening at LBMC and an opportunity to discuss science with your peers.

She found France to be a very welcoming place. The people here were very friendly. Especially the people in her surrounding which have been so nice, she did not face any troubles in settling in. In addition, she appreciated the work culture and the sense of community in the work place.

Lyon is a very nice city to live in and to explore the French culture. Being the gastronomic capital of France, one undoubtedly gets to eat authentic French food, but apart from that the city has many more things to offer: from interesting museums to magnificent traditions like Fête des Lumières. The people share a feeling of togetherness, and celebrate festivals together at work.

Ananya will keep good memories from her internship at ENS de Lyon. It was a memorable experience for her where she had the opportunity to grow on both a professional and personal level.

It is an incredible opportunity to expand your horizons and gather new experiences. France is one of the top countries in terms of quality of scientific research, and on the same grounds ENS de Lyon is famous worldwide for its research.