Sharjah is situated on the northeastern coast of the UAE, and there is hot and humid weather in September. Temperatures are slowly cooling from October to December. This was one thing that affected the whole stay, it was very different from the middle European type of autumn. However, it was an adventure to experience it! Aside from the weather, it was easy to travel to any other emirate from Sharjah, since it is surrounded by all of them.

Sharjah is UAE’s third largest emirate. From our accommodation, it was approximately 20 minutes to Dubai city center by taxi. Every emirate is very different, you will be able to see a lot of contrasts in this country. Dubai is very touristy, on the other hand, Sharjah is more family-friendly. Here I would recommend seeing Al Khan Beach, Museum of Islamic Civilization, Rain Room, Blue Souk, and Al Noor Island.

I would recommend going to Jebel Jais to experience the longest zipline in the world, Hatta Dam, Khorfokkan with Shark Island. In Dubai don't miss all the touristy places - Burj Khalifa, Burj Al Arab, the Frame, Miracle Garden, and Global Village. I would also recommend spending a few days in Abu Dhabi - for me, it is the most memorable city in UAE. There you can see Sheik Zayed Grand Mosque, go on a safari (they have the highest dunes here), visit Souks (market), Mangrove park, and many beautiful beaches.

I worked at the Research Institute of Medical and Health Sciences (RIMHS) at the University of Sharjah. My laboratory was Immuno-oncology. In the lab, there were some PhD. Students, research assistants, and a lot of master's students working on their thesis. At RIMHS, there is a wide variety of laboratories, and also some of my intern friends worked there.

As I found out during my first working day, my supervisor forgot to tell the workers in the lab about my arrival, even though I contacted her. Some people from the lab were on vacation, and the others didn't know what my work should be. Therefore there was no work for me for almost one month. I was supposed to shadow work others, but since a lot of them were new master students, they were the ones trying to learn something, so there was no actual work for me. When one competent RA returned, I got a job and from that point it was okay :) I worked on one project connected to colorectal carcinoma. The aim of my work was immunohistochemical analysis of mismatch repair protein (MMR) expression, used to identify tumors with a deficient MMR system. I was providing IHC with 4 different markers on 42 patient samples. I also had a chance to observe Flow cytometry, Western blot, and DNA extraction.

It was around 3200AED, which was sufficient for living. I got a stipend from my university covering travel costs, and I would say that the salary and stipend covered everything I needed during my internship. Of course, if you want to travel more, and visit other countries, you will need some extra money.

You can communicate in English everywhere. Taxi drivers, people at shops, at the university, no one had a problem. Sometimes you have to try very hard to understand them, but it usually is some type of English with strong dialect they use :D

The price of the accommodation was 2640AED for three months. It was provided by the university and it was located 10 minutes drive from the university. Every morning (8:10) and afternoon (15:15) we had a bus connection provided by the university. I lived with two other intern girls and we became such good friends :) Accommodation was okay, most of the stuff was provided (vacuum cleaner, bed linen, kitchen utilities, wifi). Plates/glasses/cutlery were provided new from IKEA for every person. During our stay, we had some problems with warm water, the oven, and cockroaches, but it was not something that would ruin my experience.

Unfortunately, IAESTE didn't organize any event. We had a chance to meet with other interns on the first official welcome day, and after that, it was in our hands - which wasn't a problem. We organized a lot of trips and evenings together. We had a WhatsApp group so it was easy to communicate, even though the boys lived in the university dorms.

Our IAESTE interns community had about 20 interns. Most of us arrived in September, and a few people joined in October. I met a lot of inspiring and wonderful people there. We were meeting a couple of times a week.

On the main campus, you can find a women's sports complex for free. There is a fully equipped gym as well as a 25m indoor swimming pool, so enjoy that! For culture, you can go to Sharjah Museum of Islamic Civilization or House of Wisdom.

I would recommend Old Town Falafel restaurant in the Muwailah commercial area, it was our weekly spot for a good meal! Also, try Amoodi´s Creamery.

I bought a local sim card at the airport from Etisalat, I used it for daily data. For calling home I used Google Meet, but others were also using Teams or Botim. Texting worked normally.

Be prepared that Sharjah does have very poor bus transportation system, therefore you would need to use a taxi to go anywhere. Especially if you arrive in September, it will be very very hot, so air-conditioned transportation is a must. Also, be aware that you will be getting your salary in cash, and it will never be on the 1st of the month, but rather 5th or later.

Sunscreen, long-sleeved breathable clothes (you won't feel comfortable wearing shorts or a shirt with a deep neckline), a hat, an extension cord, and if you have a sensitive stomach maybe some probiotics.

I had a chance to work in a very interesting research group and work on an accurate cancer research project. It gave me an idea of what my future work field may look like. I enjoyed my stay a lot. It will expand the way you think about Muslim countries, this country can teach you a lot if you are open to it. You can always ask questions, and be curious, everyone is more than willing to give you an answer.

There was not a problem. I got an answer very fast every time I needed something.