Hardly anything enriches and broadens your own horizon of experience more than the chance to live and work in another country for a longer period of time. As the internship semester approached during my bachelor's degree, it was clear to me that I wanted to take this opportunity to not only get a taste of my future professional life for a semester, but also to get to know another language and culture better, and during my studies I became increasingly aware of the language aspect. Every major laboratory or institute has employees of international origin and it is not uncommon for them to communicate with each other in English, sometimes even French or Spanish. In addition, English is not only a world language but also our scientific language, in which all specialist literature and publications are written. After many applications in Great Britain, Spain and France and just as many rejections or requests that were never answered, I was lucky enough to be offered a position at the Institut Pasteur in Paris through one of my university professors. Another inquiry, contact made and then the acceptance. But that was only part of the job. Application requirements from the institute, visits to the doctor, certificates that had to be notarized and translated, and financing via ERASMUS made the whole thing take a while longer. In my case, it even took almost 2 months, because several important documents were lost in the post from Germany to France or back and I had to find a replacement as quickly as possible. So it's important not to take too much time with your planning! You should also start looking for accommodation as soon as possible, because even if Paris is a student city, the availability of reasonably affordable accommodation is unfortunately very limited and involves a lot of luck and waiting time. I recommend making inquiries to the Cité de l'Université so that you can get a room in one of the student residences. But there are also long waiting times and many more requests than offers. Otherwise, ERASMUS, facebook and co. are also good places to advertise shared flats and rooms for subletting. If all else fails, many people in and around Paris also offer relatively cheap rooms via AirBnB and other platforms. Important: The cost of living in Paris is easily three to four times that of Zittau, so don't be too shocked by rents of over €600 for an 8 m² room...! Otherwise, Paris is very student-friendly, especially on a cultural level. Free admission to most monuments, museums and other sights and otherwise a big discount for cinema, theater, etc.. Many activities, evenings, parties and even weekend trips throughout France are offered free of charge or for little money, especially by ERASMUS or the STAPA (events group of the Institut Pasteur).

The Institut Pasteur also offers its employees a wide range of activities. But first a few general facts about my internship: Founded in 1887 by its namesake Louis Pasteur, the Institut Pasteur - similar to the German Robert Koch Institute - is one of the largest and oldest research institutes in Europe in the fields of biochemistry, medicine, biology and chemistry. It extends over several blocks and houses modern laboratories, restaurants, cafés, apartments, libraries, a bar and sports facilities as well as Pasteur's former living and research rooms in the form of a museum. My supervisor Dr. Tarek Msadek welcomed me on my first day at work, showed me around the institute, introduced me to my colleagues and explained my work in detail, which was to form the basis of my Bachelor thesis. My task was to investigate the previously unexplored PhoRP two-component system in Staphylococcus aureus , which is responsible for phosphate regulation. The aim was to identify and characterize both the structure and function of this system using various genetic analyses, as well as the genes overexpressed due to phosphate deficiency. I was pleased to find that very little of this was new territory for me, as much of what I was to work with had been covered in modules such as microbiology, genetics, genetic technology, biochemistry or upstream processing during my studies in Zittau. They were also relatively positively surprised at how much knowledge and practical experience I already had, which I attribute to the many internships during my studies as well as the voluntary internships provided by the university. For example, I had already taken up the offer of a 2-month internship in Scotland from IAESTE and the university's international office the previous summer and was therefore able to implement some methods and experiments independently without any problems at the start of my internship semester.To come back to the subject of languages; as the institute itself is international, you can get by here without any problems using only English. For life outside of work, I recommend at least basic French to everyone! But don't worry, I can tell you from my own experience that you will learn more in 7 days than after 7 years of language lessons, so if you are also thinking about enriching yourself both practically and personally abroad, I can give you the following advice in summary:

• Make the decision early on whether and where you want to go abroad
• Talk to professors, the International Office and, if necessary, the dean about your decision. the Dean about your decision
• Apply to many different places and don't lose heart and patience if you are turned down
• Take care of financial aid, accommodation, insurance and, if necessary, mobility, visas or vaccinations as early as possible. Mobility, visas or vaccinations
• Don't be put off by the language barrier and don't be too frustrated if you can't express yourself as you would like to at first
• Enjoy your time to the full For me, it was a wonderful time in which I was able to make valuable contacts, make good friends, grow personally and finally find out how I want to shape my professional and personal future. Despite some of the obstacles I encountered during this time, I don't regret my decision for a second and wish everyone an equally wonderful time.it's worth it! bonne chance et bisous à tous!

  Anne Jordan, NBb13