Ghent is a medium-sized city about half an hour from Brussels and about an hour from the Belgian coast. It's a city full of students and cyclists.

Ghent is a city with beautiful historical centre and a vivid student life. There is always something happening, whether it is an event organised by one of the many student unions or an activity organised directly by the city. Public transportation works well, but most people prefer to use bikes because cycling is surprisingly safe and convenient.

For day trips, I highly recommend visiting Bruges and the cities on the Belgian coast, such as Ostend or Blankenberge. For shopping I would suggest Kortrijk, and for architecture and sightseeing Liège. Belgium has excellent train connections, which makes traveling to other cities very easy. I was in Belgium during winter, which gave me a great opportunity to explore the local Christmas markets. Out of all the ones I visited in Belgium, I enjoyed the markets in Antwerp and Hasselt the most. Among the foreign ones, I especially liked the markets in Aachen in Germany and in Lille in France.

I did my internship at Protealis, a small start-up located in Ghent. The company’s office and research laboratories are located directly in the city. Around 30 people work there in total. The company also has a larger warehouse in Gavere, where additional employees work, although I did not visit that location very often. Most of the time I worked in a small team with four other people.

I worked as a part of the microbiology team within the research and development department. This team focuses on improving seed coatings for soybeans that contain beneficial symbiotic bacteria. My main task was to identify mutations present in different bacterial strains and investigate how these mutations affect plant growth. Most of my work involved extracting DNA from bacterial cells and using this DNA for PCR reactions. The PCR products were then sent for sequencing, after which I analyzed the sequencing data. I also worked on optimizing a capillary electrophoresis assay that the company wanted to use instead of classical gel electrophoresis and, in some cases, even instead of sequencing. In addition to my main project, I helped with routine laboratory work such as plating bacterial cultures and colony counting. Once a month we also designed and carried out a new plant trial. This involved planting around one hundred small soybean plants, inoculating them with various bacterial strains, and observing their growth in a controlled aseptic environment. At the end of each plant trial, the plants were harvested and analyzed.

The description of the work in the o-form was very general, so I did not fully know what to expect before starting the internship. I got a clearer picture of the work during my introductory videocall with the company, but the work only became fully clear once I started working there.

I received a salary of 300 euros per week, which was helpful but did not fully cover all the costs associated with the internship. The accommodation was quite expensive, costing around 750 euros per month. Another significant expenses were groceries and traveling. Luckily I had some savings prepared for this reason.

Everyone that I met at my workplace spoke very good English, so I had no problem communicating with them. I tried to learn some Flemish, but it was not really necessary. Between colleagues, however, people preferred to speak Flemish or French, which I could not understand, and it was sometimes difficult to join in those conversations, so I felt a bit left out. For everyday activities like shopping, going to restaurant or using public transportation, speaking English was enough.

Finding suitable accommodation was very hard and I would expect a little bit more help from the local IAESTE committee. In the end, I found a house thanks to a Facebook group recommended by my internship supervisor. I stayed in a typical student accommodation near the Sint-Pieters train station, which was an excellent location. It was close to my place of work, the city centre, and the main train, bus, and tram connections. I lived together with four other people. We all had our own separate rooms, and I even had my own bathroom, while the others shared two additional bathrooms. We all shared a kitchen and a small garden. There was also a garage where we could park our bikes or wash and dry our clothes. The accommodation cost 750 euro per month which was more than I expected.

At the beginning, the IAESTE members organized a lot of activities. We went on a one-day trip to Ypres and a weekend trip to Namur. There was also an international dinner party and a Halloween party. However, as the school year started for the IAESTE members, organized events became sparse, especially in January. I understand that most interns come to Belgium during the summer holidays, which is when most of the activities happen, but I still hoped for more events during the winter months. So as a result, I ended up organizing many activities myself together with the other trainees.

The other trainees were wonderful. They were very friendly and likeable. I felt that I could talk to them openly about anything, and we spent a lot of time together. I even met some other interns who weren't from the IAESTE agency but were also doing internships. I really felt that we built our own little community in Ghent during our limited time there. I also tried meeting some Erasmus students in Ghent through Erasmus Student Network events, but our daily schedules and interests were too different, and we didn’t end up connecting that much.

I am more of a sporty person than a culture lover. I enjoy running, and I especially liked the track around the Watersportbaan. It is especially nice in the evening while still feeling very safe. For longer runs I liked a trail towards Drongen that I found on the AllTrails website. For both running and bird watching, I also enjoyed visiting the nature reserve Bourgoyen-Ossemeersen. When the weather got colder, I preferred exercising indoors, so I went to the gym. The Basic-Fit gyms offer a very reasonably priced membership for students. In terms of culture, I enjoyed visiting different museums. During the annual museum night, it is possible to visit all the museums in Ghent for free until 1 a.m. I took full advantage of this opportunity and managed to see several exhibitions. I especially recommend visiting the contemporary art museum S.M.A.K. In the nearby city of Kortrijk, there is also a very nice modern art museum called Abby. At the beginning of the school year, I also attended the student kick-off concert, which I really enjoyed and which I think is a must-see event for every student in Ghent.

Belgium is known for its beers, waffles, and chocolate, so I obviously had to try them. My favourites were the cherry beers, which really surprised me with their intense fruit flavour and sourness. I would also recommend trying traditional Belgian fries, especially with the stoofvlees sauce.

I communicated with other trainees and members of IAESTE through a WhatsApp group chat. I mostly used my phone for texting and calling my family back home. Internet access and Wi-Fi were widely available, so staying in touch with the Czech Republic was easy.

I recommend getting a bike and using cycling as your main mode of transport. Public transport works, but it is often less practical for getting around the city. You can buy a second-hand bike through one of the many Facebook groups or rent one from Fietsambassade or Swapfiets. I chose to rent a bike and was pleasantly surprised by how easy it was to get one and how simple it was to have it repaired when needed.

Do not forget warm and waterproof clothing, especially if you arrive in autumn or winter. Even if the weather forecast says it will be sunny, the weather can change quickly, and it can start raining very fast. In winter, temperatures don’t usually get extremely low, but it feels much colder because of the strong wind.

During my internship I learned a lot about my own working style, my strengths and weaknesses. I realized that I am able to work independently and that I enjoy having the responsibility for my own project. I also improved my ability to communicate my project and research progress with my coworkers, which is something that is not emphasized as much during my studies at university. Discussing results and explaining my ideas to others was something that I struggled with at the beginning, but by the end of my internship I felt much more confident doing so. Another important lesson for me was the realization how different the practical aspects of biochemistry research can be compared to the theoretical knowledge taught during lectures. Solving real research problems gave me a much clearer understanding of how scientific work is carried out in practice. Overall, this internship gave me a clearer idea of which direction I would like to pursue in my future career.

Overall, the cooperation with IAESTE was good. I would have preferred a bit more support during the beginning phase of my internship. For example, help with finding accommodation, picking me up from the airport, or having a buddy to show me around the city and assist with practical stuff would have been very useful. Otherwise, I met some great people and really enjoyed the trips and activities they organized. I wish there had been more activities in January, but I understand that the members had other priorities at that time.