Madhura Raghavan

Madhura Raghavan@What a summer it had been! Never had I been so richly treated to scientific as well as cultural exposure as this. I worked with Prof. Shimamoto on various aspects of the extracellular matrix (ECM) of E.coli. My professor had only recently figured out a method to observe the ECM (which so far had eluded scientists from observation owing to its transparent nature) and this meant its structure, composition and function could now be studied. The fact that he had confidence in me to assign this exciting new work was really encouraging. My work in the lab, amidst friendly and motivating lab members, was very rewarding and enjoyable. I worked on diverse aspects of the ECM, its role in cell survival, its effect on flagellar motion and the proteins of the ECM. Initially I began studying the proteins of ECM and then based on the results, started new experiments in parallel. I had to devise and standardize protocols first, which I then used, to conduct the experiments. In addition to learning new techniques, the wonderful part was that I was allowed to work on many aspects of the project independently. Having never had an opportunity to design experiments on my own, it was a great pleasure to work this way and it helped me develop the ability to think analytically and critically, which I realize, matters much in preparing oneself to be a good researcher. From being a naive undergrad, I have become a bit matured now. Very often I had interesting discussions with my professor and assistant professor, which alerted me to be really cautious about misleading and apparently real results. I was given an opportunity to give a talk at a conference on E.coli on the work that we were doing and it was an awesome experience. On the whole, the icing on the cake, however, is the invaluable lesson I learnt - never to be frustrated by failures. Enjoy your work and if it fails, put in more love, interest and of course more effort in the work. The joy of doing what you like surpasses the joy of success and this has multiplied my love for research manifold!!


@As much as I loved my work, I loved traveling around in the bicycle that NIG had given us. Weekends meant cycling expeditions with other interns to nearby and also not so nearby places, finding the direction ourselves using the Japanese that we learnt in the weekly Japanese lessons at NIG. I met a lot of wonderful people during these trips-all of them so polite, honest, generous and ever helpful that, sometimes I felt overwhelmed. Right from climbing Fuji-san, to exploring Kyoto, to rafting in Fujigawa, to watching the biggest fireworks festival in Tokyo, to having joint cooking sessions with my friends - weekends were a perfect foil to the weekdays . NIGINTERN has been the most enriching and enlightening experience in my life. Thanks to NIG for giving me this opportunity to explore science and the Japanese culture so extensively at the same time.


INFOMATION
arShimamoto Laboratory
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