Natalia
Sampaio RSBS Summer Scholar
Identifying
new functions for flavonoids in higher plants
Natalia has just completed a Molecular Biotechnology
Bachelor of Science degree at Curtin University.
She was keen to do a summer research project at
RSBS before commencing her Honours year at the
University of Western Australia this year.
Coming to the RSBS for the summer was a year long
goal that Natalia set at the beginning of 2007
when she heard about the program and the scholarship
opportunity. While her short term goal is to obtain
an Honours degree she hopes to spend some time
working in a laboratory before eventually undertaking
a PhD project. Natalia found that the research
intensive environment at the ANU was a great option
to help her achieve this goal. Spending her summer
break as a summer scholar has given Natalia a great
insight into academic aspects of the ANU and RSBS.
Natalia’s project involved working with
plants. The project was a new and exciting topic
of research for her to undertake, and has broadened
her scientific knowledge. In particular, Natalia
worked with flavonoids in Arabidopsis. Flavonoids
are antioxidant compounds with potential as anti-cancer
therapies but many aspects of their roles in plant
function remain elusive. She undertook a series
of three experiments of which two were new approaches
never attempted in the host lab before. An element
of her scholarship experience that Natalia particularly
enjoyed was being given “research freedom”,
and she says that she “really enjoyed being
given independence to undertake the work herself
yet having ready access to a range of supervisors”.
“The summer scholarships are definitely
better than staying at home and working a summer
job”, says Natalia who happily flew to the
other side of Australia to join the Summer Scholar
program. The social aspect of the scholarship program
has also been an enjoyable part of her stay and
she has particularly enjoyed mixing with a “group
of peers who were equally committed and dedicated
to the scholarship program”. Natalia saw
the Summer Scholar program as an excellent introduction
to research work and recommended the ANU and RSBS
in particular as an ideal location to embark on
a higher degree courses.
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