INTERNATIONAL SUMMER SCIENCE INSTITUTE
YOUNG SCIENTIST FROM LUXEMBOURG THRIVES IN ISRAELI SUMMER PROGRAMME
With the precious support of the Matanel Foundation, the Fondation Jeunes Scientifiques Luxembourg (FJSL) was able to allow Marie Barberon - laureate of the 2021 national Jonk Fuerscher contest - to participate in the International Summer Science Institute (ISSI), a month-long programme at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovot, Israel.
During this year’s national Jonk Fuerscher contest, Marie Barberon (20) impressed the jury with her project combining medical research, mathematics and informatics, titled “DNA Walks of Polyglutamine Neurodegenerative Diseases” and was therefore chosen to represent Luxembourg at the ISSI. 2021 marked Marie’s second participation in the national Jonk Fuerscher contest. While her first project in 2019 explored the structure of human lungs through a mathematical perspective, she took it one step further this time: Using Python, she modelled the DNA sequences of two neurodegenerative diseases as “DNA Walks”. In a next step, she applied fractal analysis to affected sequences to calculate and quantify the severity of the disease. This could provide a simple and accessible way to finding more clinical insights which in turn would improve diagnosis and prognosis for patients. Don’t worry about sounding professional. Sound like you. There are over 1.5 billion websites out there, but your story is what’s going to separate this one from the rest. If you read the words back and don’t hear your own voice in your head, that’s a good sign you still have more work to do.
First virtual ISSI edition: group research projects, lectures and cultural exchange
From July 11th – August 5th 2021, Marie fully immersed into the scientific realm of the Weizmann Institute, one of the world’s leading multidisciplinary basic research institutions. With her group of eight other students, she created a project about colorising medical images, so that radiologists can better visualise abnormalities on MRI scans. During their research, the participants were virtually mentored by a Weizmann PHD student and gave a final presentation of their findings for everyone in the programme.
“I really enjoyed the ISSI programme — I have learnt so much and met lots of interesting people! I am also very grateful I got to do this project because I learned about basic image processing techniques, and experimented with programmes which will be super useful for me in the future”, explains Marie.
After their daily research sessions, the participants had the possibility to attend social activities and lectures by professional scientists. “One of my favourite lectures was by Dr. Filipe Natalio, a scientist who currently works in scientific archaeology. He has a background in chemistry, marine biology and other fields. It’s super inspiring to learn from people who have interests in so many different aspects of science, and choose to combine them all by doing interdisciplinary research”, so the 20-year-old student.
Every summer since 1969, the Dr. Bessie F. Lawrence International Summer Science Institute (ISSI) brings together approximately 80 highly talented pre-university students from all over the world to experience the challenges and rewards of scientific research and to learn more about the Weizmann Institute of Science and life in Israel.