What happened to...Arjun?
It is heartening to see the Hans-Peter Wild Talent scholarship community grow over the last years. I recollect the award ceremony of the inaugural scholarship round brimming with enthusiasm. This was in October 2021, at the very start of a productive and fulfilling master’s in molecular biosciences at Heidelberg University. Heidelberg is a marvelous hub in the field of biology, which allows students to explore diverse fields through lab rotations, seminars and conferences. In this endeavor, I bore witness to the safety net offered by the scholarship. It provided me the financial wherewithal to pay conference fees and not work at student jobs to support my studies. The latter saved time and I used it to start a science podcast and intern at laboratories. These aspects were instrumental in securing a PhD position in the Friedrich Miescher Institute for Biomedical Research in Basel, Switzerland as I had a clear understanding of what biological questions inspired me and where is the best place to answer them.
Science aside, Heidelberg enriched my personality too. Biking along the Neckar or up to the Königstuhl and spending hours at the bouldering gym helped my physical health to thrive and provided serenity. I made cherished friendships and immersed myself in the community. I miss the feeling of walking through the Altstadt and bumping into familiar faces, it was a beautiful sense of belonging. The events organized by the scholarship played an important role in this, as I met driven people outside the bubble of my master’s.
Heidelberg was my first time living away from home in Mumbai (India), the difference between the two places could not be starker. Yet, what’s common is the variety and welcoming nature of the residents of each place. This made adapting to life abroad easy, and the science and scholarship did the rest to make my experience of Heidelberg delightful.
