Contact: lenaalbers@gmx.de Experience report.pdf

Preparations

Once contact had been made with my supervising professor in Cardiff and I had been accepted for my internship, the big preparations were about to begin. Firstly, I got myself a credit card. I compared several offers from banks and came to the conclusion that Comdirect Bank was the cheapest. You get a current account with an ec card and can withdraw money with the associated visa card at any ATM with the visa symbol abroad without any fees. Deutsche Bank is also a good option, as it has many partner branches and you can withdraw money free of charge from all Barcleys branches in the UK, for example.

The next item on my list was insurance cover. I decided against taking out additional international health and liability insurance, as my statutory public health insurance and also my liability insurance cover me throughout Europe. You should find out in advance whether and what your own insurance covers. However, the DAAD also offers combined health and liability insurance. I think if you want to be on the safe side, you should enquire there.

Getting there

You can get to Cardiff very easily and cheaply by plane. If you plan early enough, there are very cheap flights to London with Ryanair. But British Airways also offers affordable prices. So I flew from Bremen to London Stansted Airport and from there took the National Express bus to London Victoria Station. Two lines (National Express, Terravision) run to Victoria Station every 20 minutes. Tickets for the train from Stansted to Central London were also offered on the plane. This is the faster but also more expensive transport option. From London Victoria Station to Cardiff Central Station you can easily travel in only about 3 hours with National Express or Megabus. Tickets are available from £1 if you are early enough.

Accommodation

As I didn't have a flat or room yet, I booked a bed at Riverhouse Backpackers in advance. I can highly recommend this hostel to anyone. Compared to others, it's only £17 a night and includes a wonderful breakfast, all day coffee and tea, bed linen, internet, clean bathrooms and a very homely atmosphere. The next day I went in search of available rooms. You can find plenty of them on various websites, such as www.cardiff.gumtree.com, www.easyroommate.com, www.spareroom.com or www.accommodationforstudents.com. However, you should also be early enough here, as Fresher's Week begins at the end of September/beginning of October, i.e. the orientation week for first-year students, and the selection of flats is then drastically reduced. A big problem for me was the short period of time I only wanted to stay in Cardiff. Most landlords (house owners, landlords) only rent out their flats or houses for 10 to 12 months, if you are lucky, for 6 months. Unlike in Germany, fixed-term tenancy agreements are signed here. It is also often the case that you are shown a room by the landlord or his employee, but you don't get to know your future flatmates. In this case, I would get the phone numbers of the flatmates and get to know them before signing a contract. A good point of contact for rental matters is the Student Union. They offer to read through tenancy agreements and check for any potential pitfalls. You should also always look at the rooms. They usually look very nice and spacious in the photos on the websites, but the reality was often very different. In the end, however, I still found very nice accommodation. I lived in a large house with six other students from all over the world. It was always nice to sit together in the evenings or cook together.

Life in Cardiff

Cardiff is a very friendly and peaceful city. With a population of around 317,000, its size is still manageable, but you still get the feeling of a capital city. Basically, all everyday needs are within walking distance. On the one hand you have the large shopping centres in the pedestrian zone, but also small, quaint shops in the arcades, on the other hand you can relax in the many parks or go for a jog. The cost of living in Cardiff is quite favourable compared to other cities in the UK, but it is more expensive than here in Germany. For shopping, it's worth going to the nearby Lidl, but Tesco or Sainsbury's also sometimes have good offers. A trip to City Road is also definitely worthwhile. In addition to the small Turkish or Pakistani supermarkets with their local range, there are also plenty of takeaways and restaurants from a wide variety of countries (Pakistan, India, Iran, China, Japan, etc.). So that we didn't get bored, I travelled through Wales with my friends many a weekend. The train connections here are quite good and inexpensive. I can recommend buying a rail pass at the beginning, which gives you a discount of around 30% on the prices. The main railway station in Cardiff provides good connections to all parts of north-west Wales. We highly recommend Tenby, Swansea, Llantwit Major and the Gower Peninsula with its incredible coastline and beaches. The historic castles are also worth a visit; Cardiff Castle, Caerfilly Castle and Castle Coch are just three of many in the Cardiff area. How about a visit to the Brecon Beacon National Park with its mountains and waterfalls? A trip to Bristol and the medieval city of Bath is also worthwhile. A trip to London is also quick and easy to organise. With National Express or Megabus, you can be there in three hours. My highlight of our weekend trips was Dublin. It's a wonderful and exciting city and easy to reach by plane from Bristol. Cardiff also has a lot to offer party fans with its numerous clubs for every taste. I can personally recommend the "Old Libary" and the "Live Lounge". Live concerts often take place here, including small, less well-known bands or very good cover bands of well-known bands such as Amy Whinehouse, Madonna, The Police, The Killers, Kings of Leon and many more. Those who prefer to go to a disco (e.g. Tiger Tiger, Buffalo's, Glam, Solus) will also get their money's worth. However, you should be prepared for the very revealing clothing style of the local girls. You often feel a little "underdressed", but this makes it easy to differentiate between locals and foreigners. If dancing is not your thing, you can also enjoy a cosy beer and burger in one of the many pubs (e.g. Pen & Wig, Wetherspoon).

Internship

In the first week I was in Cardiff, I met my professor in person and he showed me round the labs and gave me a brief overview of the working group and the university. Monday was the first day of my internship. I was allocated a workstation and we discussed the chemical reactions that I would be investigating over the next few days. For my internship, I was to work on the working group's current research. First of all, I had to produce, purify and analyse my starting components myself according to literature reactions. I then used these starting components to carry out the first rearrangements known from the literature in order to familiarise myself with the reactions. I then ventured into unknown reactions and experiments. Once I had familiarised myself with the reaction class, my professor basically gave me a free hand with my ideas. After a brief consultation, he usually agreed with my plans for the next experiments. The staff and doctoral candidates were all very helpful and

helpful and endeavoured to help where they could. I didn't have a doctoral candidate to supervise me, but was supervised directly by the professor, as I was working on a completely new topic. He was also very helpful and I could come to him with any questions. I was fully accepted in the working group and was allowed to use all the equipment and software independently after a short introduction.

Conclusion

All in all, I really enjoyed this internship and learnt a lot of new things. Not only in chemistry, but also in dealing with foreign people and a foreign language. I think this time has boosted my self-confidence and I have become much more independent. I was pleased to see how my English improved and how open all the young people from different countries were. I would like to help anyone who is still thinking about going abroad for a while to make a decision and say "Go! Nobody can take this great time away from you and the experiences and memories will stay with you for a long time.