Cultures, questions and pizza
The students of the international Biomedical Imaging Master’s degree programme were offered pizza and the chance to talk with the professors about their studies.
Almost thirty students fill the seminar room in the fifth floor of Biocity. The scene does not resemble a typical seminar meeting for several reasons. Pizza boxes are piled on a table in the middle of the room, and the students crowding around the food have come from all over the world. English is spoken in a variety of accents.
Peter Ngum and Petra Miikkulainen started their
studies in the Biomedical Imaging Master’s degree
programme this autumn.
One of them is the 26-year-old Peter Ngum from Cameroon. His fellow students call him the star of the course because Ngum already holds a degree in both chemistry and medicine. Originally, he came to Helsinki for one of the practise periods of his degree in medicine. Now he has a Finnish girlfriend and clear plans for the future.
- I’m interested in radiology. There’s a lot of competition on the field, but these studies give me valuable laboratory skills in addition to a degree, Ngum says.
Beside Ngum stands Petra Miikkulainen, 25, who also started in the Master’s degree programme this autumn. She is already a laboratory analyst but wants to specialise further.
- I’m not yet certain what my specific area interest will be, but I’ll figure that out. This field offers a lot of options for specialisation.
Coordination is the key
The aim of the Biomedical Imaging Master’s degree programme is to train professionals of biomedical imaging with a wide range of skills. The programme offers a variety of courses on different areas of bioimaging, from molecular level nanoscience to cell and body imaging. The new programme was launched in the autumn of last year.
- We had nine students last year, and now 20 new students started in the programme. A few students are still waiting for their visas, say coordinators Maritta Löytömäki and Eeva Rainio.
Half of the newcomers are students in the University of Turku, the other half in Åbo Akademi University. A lot of coordination is needed for smooth cooperation. Rainio says she knows every student personally. Petra Miikkulainen confirms that this is evident in the everyday student life.
- The atmosphere is warm. We are looked after way more than other students.
Questions and answers
The students who started in the programme this year have been very active and knocked on the professors’ doors to ask questions about their studies. As a result, it was decided that a Q&A session was in order. In addition to providing answers, the purpose is to make the students feel themselves at home in the bioimaging community.
- We try to make a tradition out of this kind of Q&A meeting where the students can ask the professors about anything on their mind. This way everyone benefits from the answers.
The professors and coordinators were bombarded with questions, from the organisation of courses to Master’s thesis topics and future possibilities. Some students were wondering about the lack of hierarchy in the department – the professors are called by their first names, and there is no need to wait for permission to sit down after asking a question.
What is the story behind the pizzas, then? Is the programme trying to get rid of leftover funding? Rainio and Löytömäki smile.
- The professors paid for the pizzas out of their research budget.
>> Master’s Degree Programme in Biomedical Imaging
Text: Joni Tauriainen
Translation: Suvi Kauppila