Przemysław Oberbek (WUT) in National Institute for Environmetal Studies (NIES) in Tsukuba

I spent 6 month at the Tsukuba (from 17 of august 2012 to 15 february 2013), mostly carrying out experiments to produce necessary data for nanoparticles. As a chemist and material scientist I was always looking for a chance to develope my practical skills in biological laboratory. I gained a lot of experience and new knowledge like how to handle CHO cells, (that were necessary for this part of a project) and run cytotoxic tests. Also I learned a lot about different analytical methods like XRD, DLS, confocal microscope, TEM and also workde with Atomic Force Miscroscope that is far different than ours.

With our Team, we were able to collect 12 different samples of NPs, characterize them, measure physico-chemical properties and obtain some data for their toxicity. Now 8 new samples were sent to Japan (to collect minimal 20 samples for nano-QSAR model) and I’m also planning to get back to Tsukuba, in a few months, with some additional samples to finish all of the studies. Most of our objectives from second Work Package „Carrying out experiments to produce necessary (missing) data for NPs” were achieved.

After hours I spent very nice time learning about the Japanese culture. I really love the place and the people at Tsukuba, especially stuff from National Institute for Environmental Studies. I was even a part of a NIES Soccer Team!