ISSI 2023 Guest Blogger Benjamin Watson
Each year we ask UK students who have taken part in the Dr Bessie Lawrence International Summer Science Institute (ISSI) to write a guest blog to reflect on the month they spent in Israel working as part of a research team alongside scientists at the Weizmann Institute. Outside of lab time students explore Israel while forming friendships that will last a lifetime. Benjamin Watson went to Featherstone High School and will be going to the University of Oxford to study Physics.
Benjamin Watson's ISSI experience
My time in Israel was an incredible melting pot of learning and enrichment. In terms of the academic side of it, my project was computational and looked at exoplanets (planets around other stars). I had never done very much coding before, so the project initially terrified me, but my mentor and my lab group were amazing, and guided me on what to do. This helped me to learn really quickly and by the end of it I was much more confident in what we had done, how we had done it, and why. So to me, my expectations and hopes were met and exceeded.
As well as learning about our project, we were exposed to a lot of Israeli culture, landscape and food, which was fantastic. Most breakfasts and lunches were buffets of schnitzels, salads, and plenty of hummus, and we even had a falafel dinner once! We were also treated to a few hikes in the deserts, including a couple sunrise hikes, which were very early starts, but stunning views at the end. This paired perfectly with swims in the Red and Dead seas, trips to Jerusalem (involving the Western Wall and the Church of the Holy Sepulchre), the Galilee and Caesarea, and to other cities around the institute.
In addition to all of these extraordinary experiences, what I may miss most is the people - more than 70 amazing people from across the globe, all with such varied talents and interests. There were so many opportunities to have fascinating and thought-provoking conversations, especially about philosophy, religion and science. I love those conversations, and there were plenty of chances to have them, with so many like-minded people.
There was a fair amount of imposter syndrome felt by most people, so I would not let that hold you back from applying. It was an incredible experience, and the only two things I would wish to change would be increasing the number of people going and the length of time to enjoy it all.
More information about the Bessie Lawrence Summer Scheme.