Kleopatra Kalouta
PhD student Kleopatra Kalouta attended the DRA Summer School 2023. She shares her thoughts on life as a PhD student and DRA opportunities. She is doing a double PhD degree at University of Copenhagen and the Università degli Studi di Palermo with Professor Vito Foderà and Valeria Vetri as her main supervisors.
“I first came to Denmark to do a Master in Pharmaceutical Sciences as the study programme really appealed to me and so did Copenhagen. During my Master thesis I enjoyed a lot working on my topic and being a part of the Drug Delivery and Biophysics of Pharmaceuticals group (led by Hanne Mørck Nielsen) at the Department of Pharmacy. I found the work and guidance of my main supervisors Vito Foderà and Mai Bay Stie very inspiring."
"After the master thesis, I mainly considered PhD options, both in Denmark and internationally. But, when it comes to my current PhD project, I liked that I had a big say in formulating the topic of the project and that I would get to work within a group of people I already knew I like to work with. Also, I could go abroad and work in a different scientific environment; it was both exciting and challenging, but it was worth the challenge! I also looked at the DRA programme and it seemed very well structured, from the organized events to how they support us as PhD students. So that was also an important factor for my decision.”
On the different DRA events, Kleopatra says: “I like the workshops because you can get trained and acquire useful skills in e.g. scientific writing. I also enjoy the seminars because you can get knowledge on specific subjects related to your own project. The networking events are also nice because you get an idea of what you can do after your PhD. I really like the DRA Summer School, especially in its new form where you spend two days together. It’s a very well-organized event that can teach you a lot on poster and oral presentations within a friendly environment where you get to interact scientifically and socially.”
When she considers career paths, Kleopatra says: “My project on plant protein-based nanofibers is something that I like very much and I would like to continue working within this field, it’s very exciting. I’m considering some of the industrial post doc opportunities and I like academia because you get to try different things and get exposed to different setups.”
Kleopatra gave the presentation entitled “Decoding the relation between protein structure and properties of plant protein-based nanofibers” at the DRA Summer School as a 3rd year PhD student in front of an assessment committee, consisting of Professor Bente Frølund, Assistant Professor Stine Rønholt and Professor Jörg Kutter.
At LinkedIn you can meet Kleopatra Kalouta
Interview by Lisbeth Lassen, Communication Consultant, Pharma Communication, Pharma Administration.