After an oral presentation within Young Investigator Training Programme competition at INTERFACES 2021 conference, I got the opportunity to spend one month in an Italian research centre supported by ACRI (Associazione di Fondazioni e di Casse di Risparmio Spa). Among various research centres, I chose to work at the University of Cagliari in Sardinia. There I worked in the Bionanointerfaces group under the supervision of Prof. Salis and Dr. Carucci. The topic of my stay was “Protein corona: experimental and theoretical studies on the interactions between nanoparticles and proteins”, which is related to my PhD topic. This stay gave me not only practical and theoretical knowledge, but I also met inspiring colleagues and I hope I will cooperate with them in the future.

Despite such a short period, I am very happy I got this opportunity and I am looking forward to my next visit. I would like to encourage students to go abroad for both internships and conferences!

Last but not least, it would be a shame not to mention perfect Italian pizza, croissants and coffee.

PS: Never order a cappuccino after noon!

Šárka Sovová