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Centre for Geobiology

Time to focus on science

For PhD student Nina Gardenova, the 3-month stay at UiB courtesy of the EU’s Erasmus mobility programme, was a chance to focus exclusively on research – for a change!

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Gardenova studies at Masaryk University Brno in the Czech Republic. Her field is Analytic Chemistry and her research involves ratios between the elements silicon and germanium, as well as aluminium and gallium in granitoid materials. She will compare these ratios with other commonly studied ratios. Here at the Bergen Geoanalytical Facility she has been studying dating of lead in samples using laser ablation among other things. Gardenova explains that they have different lasers and Mass Spectrometers at her home lab from those used here in Bergen, and the data she generates here will provide a valuable comparison with those generated in the home lab. Such comparisons provide important verification information for data in this field as well as being important for the generation of standards.

In Masaryk Gardenova is not only a PhD student, she teaches lab courses in Analytic and Environment Chemistry to 1st and 2nd year students at the university, as well as teaching a Food Chemistry and Biochemistry course at a near-by high school. Gardenova’s undergraduate work was in food chemistry and teaching may well be a potential career path for her after the completion of her studies.

Gardenova’s stay in Bergen was financed via an Erasmus mobility grant. Her supervisor here was Geology Professor Jan Kosler. She admits that before coming she was a little nervous about what to expect, but says that she has found the experience to be very positive. She appreciated the independence and different work environment, but particularly, she appreciated not having other responsibilities and being able to focus on research. It gave her valuable time to read, write and reflect she explains. Her only regret has been the time of year – the shorter days meant that there were not as many opportunities to explore Bergen and Norway as she might have liked. She will just have to come back another time!