From Thailand to Darmstadt: Interview with biophysics intern Pharewa Karoon - new blog post
26.07.2022 |
How are you getting along in Germany?
Before I left Thailand, I was very worried: “How can I live in Germany without my family, without my friends?” Because it was the first time I went abroad alone. Accordingly, I tried to find information about Germany and about GSI. I got it by asking people in my research group and through websites like YouTube. But after I arrived, I felt that it was easier than I thought because everything is well organized in Germany. Most importantly, I have a nice contact person in the GSI international office and my supervisor and colleagues are always willing to help me with anything. That helps me a lot. It feels like I have a second home here and I want to come back.
What are your tasks at GSI/FAIR?
At GSI, a new cancer therapy with heavy ions was developed, which has been in clinical use for several years. Although patients are no longer treated at GSI/FAIR today, heavy ion therapy is continuously being developed further in research projects. One topic is research into the extent to which the oxygen supply to tumors has an influence on the effectiveness of radiation therapy. I am involved in the research project on the experimental investigation of oxygen removal by radiolysis in irradiated liquid and gel samples. Radiolysis in this case means the splitting of water molecules by the radiation. The resulting water radicals remove oxygen from the sample. My task is to observe oxygen removal during irradiation using different samples and to record differences.
Full interview? Link here.
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