Klara is a research assistant within the TurtleBIOME project at the University of Zagreb and has been working with microbial communities of endangered sea turtles.

She was involved in science popularization and communication events e.g., the European Researchers’ Night. Klara also took part in a scientific photography and problem-solving competition during the EU TalentOn Event in 2022.  

She has recently finished her doctoral studies and is looking forward to using her knowledge and skills in finding microbial solutions to global challenges.

Updated on Tuesday, 17/02/2026

Marie is a French and Czech researcher in biostatistics and enjoys applying her skills to medicine-related research. She studied mathematics, physics and engineering before specialising in mathematics and later in statistics. She holds a PhD in applied mathematics from the University of Strasbourg. She was then a postdoc in statistics at the Paris Cité University. In November 2022, she joined the University of Cambridge, at the MRC Biostatistics Unit.  

Marie is strongly involved in the scientific community, as depicted by her commitments to French and European scientific societies and associations. She is also an advocate for mental health, as well as for survivors of sexist and sexual violence. 

In September 2022, Marie got teamed up with three other young female researchers: Bibiana Barrera, Celine Everaert and Kiira Sarasjärvi. Together they developed a game, called The Big C, to defeat cancer taboos and misconceptions. For this project, they won the first prize of the Cancer Mission Arena and the Bright Young Minds Award. 

Updated on Tuesday, 17/02/2026

Ciao,

my name is Lea and I did a two-week volunteer project in Italy, in Isola delle Femmine.
Together with ten other volunteers from different EU countries and a group leader, we lived on a campsite in the municipality of Isola delle Femmine, which is located in Sicily, near Palermo. Every morning from Monday to Friday we walked to the harbor and took a small boat to the island of Isola delle Femmine. With us on the boat we usually had small plants and water canisters. After about a 10-minute boat ride, we arrived at the island, unloaded the boat and got to work on the island. Our tasks consisted of planting the plants we had brought, watering the plants we had already planted, and picking up trash on the island.

At noon we went back by boat and returned to the camp. There we ate together and then usually had a break for one or two hours.
In the afternoon we met again and started the afternoon activity, which was usually prepared by our group leader. During the first days, we played games to get to know each other, discussed organizational matters, as well as various social topics. In the second week we worked on a project to make the inhabitants of Isola delle Femmine aware of our work on the island and to raise their awareness of the importance of the island. We designed a postcard showing us and all the garbage we collected on the island. On the back of the postcard, we briefly explained who we are and what we do and included a QR code that takes you directly to a presentation of our work.

Besides the work we also had some free time ;). On these days we usually all did something together.
I am very grateful for this experience, because even though it was only two weeks, I feel like I have developed a lot. I met wonderful people from different countries, learned about their language and culture, improved my English, increased my awareness towards nature and besides enjoyed two weeks of sun, beach and sea. What more could you ask for? (:

Updated on Tuesday, 17/02/2026