Meet our summer students Dmytro and Nora
Dmytro Pastukh: I am a Master student at the University of Hanover where I study Biomedical Engineering. For my bachelor thesis, I worked with the biopolymer alginate and investigated its interactions with stem cells under cryogenic conditions. This awakened my interest for biomaterials and wanted to transfer the theoretical knowledge I have to scientific practice. I was very happy to find out that there exists a good collaboration between my home department, the Institute for Multiphase Processes (IMP), and the Department of Biomaterials here in Oslo, where I was warmly welcomed as student researcher to work on my semester research project. I am extremely grateful for the opportunity to spend a summer in Oslo and do research in an excellent scientific environment. I would also like to thank the Dr. Jürgen und Irmgard Foundation for kindly supporting the promotion of my scientific education.
Nora Hafiane: I am a French Master student studying materials science at the engineering school ENSIL-ENSCI in Limoges. Before coming to Oslo, I did an exchange semester focusing on biomaterials at the University of Manchester. That is why I wanted to put my knowledge in biomaterials into practice in a laboratory. I heard about Department of Biomaterials here at the Faculty of Dentistry in Oslo and really wanted to do an internship at the Biomaterials lab, and of course, discover life here in Norway.
What have they learned during their stay in Oslo?
Dmytro: My project focused on the in vitro degradation of bilayered composite thin films composed of chitosan and hydroxyapatite. These spatially designed functionally graded bioactive membranes are intended to be used as membranes for guided tissue regeneration (GTR). Together with my supervisor Dr Saad Bin Qasim, I characterised the composite membranes using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and UV-vis and FTIR spectroscopy in order to understand the chemical interactions between the material phases and the degradation behaviour of the membranes. These scientific skills will surely help me in my future career as a biomedical engineer.
I really enjoyed the time I spent in Norway and at the Department for Biomaterials. An interdisciplinary field such as biomaterial science benefits greatly from the international cooperation of scientists with different (educational) backgrounds. Thanks to the researchers at the lab I received all the assistance and support I needed to improve my skills in the biomaterial field. Overall I had a very pleasant stay and I would always come back.
Nora: I worked here in Oslo for 11 weeks and I had the chance to learn a lot about dental implants and new material characterisation techniques. My research project focused on comparing the adsorption of both model proteins and full saliva on polyphenolic coatings produced under either oxidative or non-oxidative conditions. During this project, I had the opportunity to learn a lot about surface-specific characterisation methods, such as the quartz-crystal microbalance with dissipation monitoring (QCM-D) and contact angle measurements, which can be for investigating interactions between biomaterials and the physiological environment. The project was very interesting project to work with and I learned a lot with the help and guidance of my supervisors Florian, Alejandro and Hanna.
I really enjoy my time in Norway, I made amazing friends and the atmosphere in the lab was so cool. It is an amazing lab with people from several different countries (e.g. Finland, India, and Brazil). International lunches were so impressive and always delicious. I really liked to share and learn more about different cultures. My internship in Oslo was a very good experience that I will never forget, thanks to everyone at the biomaterial department.
Photos by Florian Weber / UiO