28.08.2024Greenhouse experiments at Agroscope in Zurich

Agrocope is the federal competence centre for agricultural research and is affiliated to the Federal Office for Agriculture. During this internship, I was part of the Plant-Soil Interaction group in Zurich, which was specialized on greenhouse experiments and in particular in the interaction between crops and mycorrhizal fungi inoculation.

My experience

In the course of this internship I was able to do my own greenhouse experiments. I did research on the different mycorrhizal response of chives and thai basil in different arable soils which were collected around Zurich.

The work environment was great, people where very helpful and invested in providing new ideas and help. A highlight for me was to get to know so many different projects from the others around me, that really broadened my horizon. Although most of the time the working days weren’t too long, at times like harvest days could turn stressful.
It is a nice experience for anyone who is willing to take the initiative as there won’t be someone everyday telling you what to do. This gives you a lot of freedom in terms of planning and more flexibility in your workdays but at the same time no one but yourself is responsible for the time management which can be challenging, depending on the character.

My university courses in soil science and biology helped me a lot in terms of know-how for this internship, as did the field courses I was able to attend during my studies.

Organisation of the internship

I found the internship on the website of the Agroscope under their thesis ideas and contacted the indicated person. Prerequisites were being in a Master’s Program at a University in either Biology or Geography or something similar like in my case Earth System Science.