Ana Rufino, 25, has a Bachelor’s and Master’s Degree in Biochemistry, and currently is a PhD student in Chemical Engineering at CICECO.
In this blog post, she came to share a little of her academic path, her research work, as well as her opinion about what is more stimulating and challenging in the life of a scientist.
THE INTERVIEW:
What was your dream profession as a child?
I dreamed to be a Pharmacist.
What was your academic background and how important was it for your present/future?
Despite having done my Bachelor's and Master's degree in the same area: Biochemistry, my bachelor and master's thesis allowed me to obtain many skills from different areas. My bachelor’s thesis had a strong component in analytical chemistry and my master's thesis in computational chemistry. This helped me to gain a background that I was not able to get during the course and to understand what I wanted to follow.
If you could go back, what would you change in your career and academic life?
I wouldn’t change a thing, because all the decisions allowed me to understand which area of research I wanted to pursue.
Briefly, what does your research work consist of, and why did you choose this area?
My research aims to improve the diagnosis of prostate cancer. This is an extremely hot area that always fascinated me.
In your opinion, what is the most stimulating thing in research VS the biggest challenges / difficulties in research? Did you ever imagine being where you are?
For me, the most stimulating thing in research is the fact that you always have to adapt yourself and find new solutions for the obstacles that appear throughout the process. In some moments it is also the biggest difficulty - to find perseverance to insist and continue until you achieve your goal. Doing a PhD was never a planned thing and only became a possibility in the end of my masters' degree.
What advice would you give to people who are thinking about going to study Biotechnology (or another area of science), to those who are studying, and to recent graduates?
I advice you to always follow what you like. Biotechnology, in particular, is an extremely interesting area that allows you to obtain excellent bases for any area you want to specialize in later.
We are grateful to Ana Rufino for sharing her testimonial.
Click here to find out more testimonials from other scientists.
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