EPFL Graduate Student Laurence Laeser’s swissnex experience in Boston
EPFL Graduate Student Laurence Laeser’s swissnex experience in Boston
I was a student at EPFL when I got the opportunity to come to Boston for my master thesis and a year ago, I joined a research group in the Epidemiology department at the Harvard School of Public Health. Shortly after arriving in Boston, I met Pierre, who introduced me to swissnex and its amazing crew, who all contributed to make me feel right at home in Boston!
It’s hard to say what swissnex exactly did for me; it was more about making me feel part of something. For example, knowing that I was involved in Public Health through my studies, they invited me to events and conferences about the health care system reform going on in the US at the time of my stay. They also invited me to networking events, where I could meet very diverse and interesting people belonging to either the Bostonian or the Swiss scientific communities, among which were the ventures leaders of 2010. Besides, knowing that I was interested in Swiss and international politics, they invited me to a informal get-together with former federal councillor Pascal Couchepin, during which we had the opportunity to debate education, innovation and entrepreneurship in Switzerland as compared to the US. Finally, they were of great help for the final presentation of my master thesis, for which they set up the videoconference system, so that it could involve both my supervisors from EPFL and Harvard, as well as a external expert from the WHO. Those are only a few highlights of my year-long stay in Boston, but it is also worth mentioning all the informal gathering or coffee-breaks going with very much missed Swiss chocolate!
 | Swissnex wasn’t much of a consulate for me, but more like an awesome friend! The one that welcomes you warmly when you first arrive in a new place, the one that invites you to get together with its friends when you are still trying to meet new people, the one that is here when you need help, advise, or cheering up by sharing friendly moments, as well as the one that congratulates you when you achieve something! Now, it’s my turn to return the compliment and congratulate you, swissnex, for the diversity of what you do, and you “swissnex people”, for doing the right thing at the right moment! I’d like to thank you all for everything, especially Pierre and Nina who were there for many things along the way, and as Americans say… “from the bottom of my heart”!
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