When I was in my second year of integrated M.Sc Physics course at Pondicherry University, I dreamed of applying physics for a medical purpose. As a result, my interest turned towards neuroscience.
When I was in my third year, seeing my interest, one of my professors informed me about an opportunity of doing summer school in Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Netherlands. I did some research and found that the Vrije University summer school offers a lot of courses. The one which I found related to my area of interest was the course ‘Brain and Mind’. The application process was really easy and the university summer school representatives were very helpful in completing the application process.
As soon as I reached Schiphol, in the Netherlands I was amazed by the Dutch weather and I found the people really friendly. The summer school started with the ice-breaking and orientation programme, where we got to meet students from other courses too.
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The first day of our class started and I found the professors had sound knowledge over the subject which made the class really interesting and completely different from what I had expected. In the afternoon, we had practicals where what was taught in the morning, we did as practicals in the afternoon.
We also had social activities and trips, which showed us how the Dutch education system works. The Dutch education system is extremely organised and I had no difficulty in completing my assignments. We were also asked to collaborate with a company and we were asked to do a project. This shows the nexus between Dutch universities and industries in the country.
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As we were studying about neuroscience, we were asked to do a survey about the wayfinding in Amsterdam. Wayfinding is about how we find a way, using what we see such as directions sign boards with letters and symbols.
We were asked to survey people and it was an awesome experience. This, in turn, helped the company to solve problems faced by people. This shows how they make use of education where the universities and industries tie up to solve the problems faced by the people.
The social trips organised by the university were an incredible experience for me. I took part in the trip to The Hague, the Anne Franke House and the Escher museum. With this, they acquainted us with the Dutch culture and history.
Thirumurugan Elango is currently pursuing his first year in M.Sc Medical Physics in Anna University, Chennai.