This year the department of Microbiology of the University of Navarra has once again become reference letter in hosting international students with 11 students from England, France, Ireland, Italy, Germany, Turkey, Brazil and Algeria.

As Carlos Gamazo, professor of the department and coordinator of International Office of the School of Pharmacy, points out, the students who arrive at department "are studying the Degree, the Master's Degree or the doctorate, and depending on this, and their own areas of interest, they are offered the possibility of carrying out small projects of research or the possibility of joining others that are already under way together with our students of the Experimental Research Program", details the professor.

"For many of them it is their first experience in the field of research and it may even be their first time in another country," Gamazo emphasizes. goal For this reason, he assures that the circumstances of each one are taken into account, with the aim of making them feel "one more in the department":"We take great care that the attention is cordial and exemplary. We are all enriched, they receive a training of high scientific and human level, and we, especially the younger students, have the opportunity to exchange experiences and practice English intensively without moving from home," Gamazo emphasizes.

Among the projects in which the students have collaborated, Professor Gamazo highlights the research on therapeutic targets and molecular diagnosis of leishmaniasis, "and also their financial aid in the development of new vaccines against bacterial dysentery".

One of the students, Isaiah Ting, from the University of Surrey, England, participated in the latter project. As he recalls, working at department Microbiology has been both a great experience and a challenge: "It has been a transforming experience and a challenge that has forced us to be more intuitive, more responsible and more adult. Not only as professionals, but also as people. This stay will remain with me in every step I take towards a future that I now see with greater clarity and optimism."