Work

I was an intern in the Grassland Sciences research group - Department of Environmental Science at ETH Zürich. The group was super well organized, the Professor and the assistant were the nicest people. I felt very welcome and safe, my colleagues (Ph. D.s and young scientists) were super nice to me and in general, I’ve made a lot of friends amongst them. From the professional perspective, I also learned a lot, I’ve done a lot of fieldwork, lab work, data analysis, etc. I was never bored at work and the schedule was quite flexible. Switzerland is in general super expensive, but my salary was totally enough to maintain a normal life.

Experience

It is not a secret that Zürich is an amazing city to stay in. It is officially in 3rd place in the world in terms of life quality (1st - Vienna, 2nd - Copenhagen). The lake was super warm and nice up until the beginning of September, it even gave me vacation/beach vibes. The city itself is quite small but very beautiful. There are not a lot of options in terms of nightlife but if you look for it - you will find it. I was living in a dorm close to the city center, 15 minutes by public transport to my work. I had to take a cable car every day since it was located up the hill, therefore the view was super amazing too. My room was big enough and contained a refrigerator and a sink. I shared a bathroom with 4 people which was completely fine, common kitchen was big and equipped with everything. I heard from other trainees that I got very lucky with this housing since it is kind of hard to find a place in Zürich. A lot of them had to stay outside of the city (20-30 mins by train). Monthly tickets and half-fair tax (Vorteilskarte) are highly recommended to get since train rides are super expensive. IAESTE Switzerland treats its trainees extremely well! My IAESTE volunteer from LC Zürich helped me with everything in perfect time and she was always kind and supportive. There were around 30 trainees only in Zürich and surrounding areas. We had meetings with trainees and members every week, I met a lot of nice international people. Moreover, IAESTE Switzerland organized events pretty much every single weekend. We traveled to a lot of cool places, such as Lugano, Basel, Zermatt, and many more. I always had plans for a weekend and was never bored. I’ve made a lot of IAESTE friends too, it was such an amazing experience.

Discover

Overall the «Motto» of this experience is «BLESSED». I was constantly feeling blessed and lucky, I could never imagine having such a pleasant experience. Everything was perfect since day 1. I got very lucky with the housing, my work was also amazing. Since it was literally my dream job at ETH ZÜRICH!!!! which also blows my mind to this day. This experience was perfect for me since I am applying for a Ph.D. next year.