Today in our section A coffee with, we have Sandra Battles Erasmus student with a double degree in the Netherlands.
1) Tell us a bit about yourself, what did you study? What do you do?
My name is Sandra and I’m from Barcelona. I am 23 years old and I have a degree in Biomedical Sciences. I am currently studying my master’s degree in Molecular Biotechnology at the University of Barcelona after having done a sabbatical year and taking advantage of it to do an internship in the Netherlands, more specifically at the Leiden University Medical Center, for 6 months outside the academic curriculum. Hopefully, in February I will return to the Netherlands, this time in Utrecht, to do my Master’s internship and write my thesis at the Hubrecht Institute.
2) Why did you decide to come back to the Netherlands? Which city are you going to this time?
As I said before, this time I am going to live in Utrecht and I have decided to come back because after my internship in Leiden, I realised that this country offers great job opportunities and with a much higher salary. In addition, the lab I was in helped me to get the internship I am going to do and it is exactly a subject I am passionate about, developmental biology with a lot of focus on microscopy. I also realised that outside Spain the scholarships for PhDs and the pressures for this are much less, people don’t have a marked and hurried path of degree, master and PhD at 23-24 years old, but they have their pauses and their search for work experience before making certain decisions, a way of thinking and doing that I love.
3) What does NL give you that Spain cannot offer you?
In the Netherlands I think they can offer me many more job opportunities, as they are also less reluctant to hire people with experience. There are many more offers and much more investment than in Spain, which means that they are committed to people who are being trained. In addition, at the research level, there are much more funds to carry out research, as well as more competent salaries.
4) Are you planning to stay in NL?
Yes, my idea is to develop the beginning of my career in the Netherlands. However, in the long term, I would like to return to Spain. As I have more work experience, I hope to find a job with appropriate conditions.
5) What do you want to do in the future, academic or industrial career, or do you consider any other possibility?
Right now, my idea is to try to do a doctorate and then, probably, go into the industrial sector. However, I don’t rule out staying in academia and doing a postdoc.
6) How do you know the association?
I know it thanks to a friend I met in Leiden who is from Valencia. She also did an internship in the same city as me. We went to the event you organised in March for your 5th anniversary. It’s true that I didn’t have the chance to go more often, because living in Delft (although my internship, as I said, was in Leiden), it was a bit of a long trip. However, I hope to be more present next year once I am settled in Utrecht.
Sandra Batlles
Student