Norway - Oslo. Centre for Theoretical and Computational Chemistry (CTCC)

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1 Norway - Oslo Centre for Theoretical and Computational Chemistry (CTCC) I study chemistry at the University of Basel and started after my six weeks traineeship in Oslo with the master thesis in organic chemistry. One day in the years of my Bachelor in chemistry I received an e- mail from IAESTE with the information of many possible traineeships abroad, thus I visit their homepage and applied in Oslo, Brazil and Iran. At the end I got an answer from Oslo and had a successful interview via Skype with Einar Uggerud the professor of The Centre for Theoretical and Computational Chemistry (CTCC) at the University of Oslo (UiO).

2 Skyline from Oslo Consequently I arrived in the middle of September in Oslo by plan and met an IAESTE member in the centre of Oslo. I had the feeling that everything was organised well and after a while I arrived also at my accommodation by underground (T- bane) in the east of Oslo. I lived there in a small and lovely room in a flat from two alumni IAESTE members of Norway where I paid 1250 NOK (~210 CHF) for each week. After some days I recognized that everything is even more expensive than in Switzerland for example alcohol, fruits and vegetables, public transports, events etc., but comparing with the salary (~2100 CHF monthly) all prices were acceptable. Unfortunately I have not received any salary from the university yet, which is the only adverse criticism for the IAESTE Oslo. How should someone survive in Oslo from an other country without such prices, costs and salaries? My small room in Oslo How I said before, I worked for the CCTC in the UiO, which I reached easily by T- bane (20 minutes from door to door). I observed the defragmentation of amino acids in small clusters using MS- QTOF spectroscopy and afterwards the experimental data were accompanied by quantum chemical calculations. In the research group I felt like a real member with a lot of support, consequently I learned a lot about this stuff. Together we discovered a lot of interesting things which will be published in scientific paper.

3 Bryggen in Bergen Never the less after a successful day or week there were all this IAESTE events. In the evenings after work I mostly planed something with other trainees, for example shopping, sightseeing, pub crawling, dinner at someone s home, hiking tours in the night and general special events in Oslo. At some weekends I went to IAESTE events for example to Åndalsnes, Bergen and Stravanger, which were really nice. After this few weeks I think I saw everything in Norway from the countryside, most of all big and important cities and I met a lot of nice and funny people. All I have seen was really impressive and also after I returned to Switzerland I remember all this good times I had in Norway. I m looking forward visiting this country again or even starting my PhD there. At the end Oslo was a really good experience for my further carrier in chemistry and I had a really good time abroad.

4 View of Bergen from the Fløien hill Åndalsnes - Canyoning View of Åndalsnes

5 Group picture in Åndalsnes Short list of experiences: Norwegian people are really polite and courteous Everything is expensive - especially alcohol (100% tax because of monopole) Everyone could speak fluently English Impressive countryside (with train: Oslo- Åndalsnes or Oslo- Bergen): o Famous red houses with lakes and forest o Fjords o Mountains o Moose and special animals from the north Impressive cities (Bergen, Oslo, Trondheim, Stravanger): o Good public transport o Cheap connections by plan from city to city (shortest time for traveling and awesome view of the country) o General very clean o A lot of museums, events, pubs, parks, lakes etc. A special culture different from all other people in Europe The weather changes rapidly from sunny, cloudy to rainy and also the temperatures Daytime and nighttime changes rapidly with the seasons Accommodations are always clean and confortable IAESTE Norway has about 100 members, which are all active and organise a lot of awesome events