I am a Danish Ph.D. student on a six-month research visit to Professor Xingyu Jiang’s group at the NCNST. I come from Aarhus, Denmark and I study in the iNANO center at Arhus University under Associate Professor Duncan S. Sutherland, in the field of nanobiointerfaces. My main academic interest is in the field of nanoscience with a focus on molecular and cell biology. My undergraduate studies where also in Arhus, in a newly started program called nanoscience. This program got me hooked right away, and the focus on interdisciplinary research is very compelling to me.

I arrived at Beijing International Airport at seven in the morning. The seven-hour time difference between Denmark and Beijing had taken my night away, so I was extremely tired at this point. Luckily, a very kind student from Professor Xingyu Jiang's group was waiting for me in the airport meeting hall with a sign "Andreas Andersen". I was more than grateful for not having to navigate by myself through Beijing in the morning traffic. We arrived at a hotel right next to NCNST and quickly got a room where I could get some sleep. The Chinese student was very worried about whether I would be able to get some food. I assured her that I would be able to handle myself and then crashed on the bed.

Now after spending 2 months at the NCNST, I can say that the hospitality I encountered that first day is something that I experience almost everyday with the people from my group. They are always ready to help me with problems of both scientific and everyday nature. The time has passed by very quickly! There has been so much to see and learn and many new people to meet that I have barely had time to miss home.