Student testimonial

Katerina Eleftheriadou: "My supervisors assisted me patiently through the whole process"

Potato producers worldwide must deal with potato cyst nematodes, such as Globodera pallida. My thesis project was focused on the identification of effectors mediating the virulence of G. pallida populations to potato cultivars characterized as resistant. I was also given the opportunity to practice RNA interference and silence a specific gene using G. pallida nematodes.

When saying “I am doing my thesis in Nematology”, everybody seems to know that it is a challenging procedure, but also fun. After six months in Nematology, I can confirm that both are true. For the past years, I was studying and working solely in the crop production sector. It was a challenge to shift my studying objective to genomics. However, my supervisors assisted me patiently through the whole process. I have received help from multiple people in the chair group. Setting aside their work, they introduced me to bioinformatic procedures I was not familiar with. Inside the lab, they helped me with my experiment and shared their personal stocks with me. I am more than grateful for their help.

When come to research practices, the chair group has high standards. Therefore, successfully completing my thesis in nematology increased my confidence as a student and as a future researcher. Worth mentioning is the continuous help of my supervisors even after I finished my thesis. I am glad I worked with all of you!

As mentioned, during my thesis I had fun! This was because of the coffee breaks and other opportunities to socialize provided by the chair group. I met great people with whom we talked about music, went to concerts, played cards, and had dinner. If I should share an insight I had after my conversations in nematology, it is the realisation that failure is part of science, and I should not feel disheartened when facing experimental difficulties. Even the most experienced scientist faces challenges.