Summer has come and gone, and so have the Summer Fellows ICIQ has hosted for the last two months. From July until September, ten chemistry undergraduates from around Europe have joined ICIQ’s research groups to have their first approach to research. “It’s been very useful to see the research environment outside of university and to see what it is like to work as a researcher. It’s been good fun and I have met really good people,” explains Amelia Billings from Bristol University, who joined Urakawa’s Group.

The ICIQ Summer Fellowship Programme – founded by Fundació “la Caixa” – has been designed to train the students in the latest research and techniques while providing an insight on research institutions’ inner workings. “You can easily tell that everything is well organised and that every department has its responsibilities and takes care of the equipment. If you have a problem there’s always someone who will help you solve it,” remarks Isabel Arranz, a student from Universidad de Valladolid who has done the summer fellowship in Maseras and Echavarren’s laboratories. “ICIQ is very modern, you can see there’s a lot of effort invested to make the best science, the labs are very well equipped!” agrees Billings.

After the two-month experience, the students are moving on to new challenges “I will go to do another fellowship at a company in Oxford. I’m very excited because I really like the project!” quips Arranz. Others will stay closer to home, like Jordi Morales who, after spending his summer doing theoretical chemistry at López’s group, will be joining the URV/ICIQ MSc in Synthesis, Catalysis and Molecular Design. “This programme is a very good approach to what it really is to be a researcher. Also, you meet people who have been in the same situation and who give you interesting and helpful recommendations,” reflects Morales.