Paulina Grnarova, Master's exchange student
Macedonia
You started your Master's studies at EPFL. Which reasons speak for or against EPFL?
Other than being regularly placed within the world’s best universities, EPFL offers an international, inspiring and a highly competitive program for computer science. Most of the courses are optional, so one can tailor the program to one’s own interests and passions. However, there are very few excellence scholarships and even though the tuition fee is not high, the same does not apply for the living costs in Switzerland. Hence, I really like the Research Scholar program that EPFL offers to perspective students, which allows the selected participants to do research within a certain laboratory in parallel to their Master’s studies. This opens the possibility for getting first-hand experience in research conducted at EPFL while receiving a stipend.
Another big plus is the country itself. In my opinion, Switzerland is a great place to live in because it not only provides a great quality of life, but it also has a strong job market for computer science graduates.
Currently, you are an exchange student at ETH Zurich and are working on your Master’s thesis. In your opinion, what has been the biggest change compared to your experience at EPFL?
One of the biggest changes naturally comes with switching from the French to the German speaking part of Switzerland. In terms of the universities, a noticeable change is the fact that ETH Zurich is located in the centre of the city, whereas EPFL is rather isolated. Hence, studying at EPFL had a strong campus feel, and at ETHZ I feel more integrated with the city.
Academically, I cannot compare the courses as I have not taken any at ETH Zurich. I have been a part of a laboratory at both universities, and both of them are excellent environments for facilitating high-quality research.
What highlights your student life from both universities up to now? What do you like most about it? What has been particularly memorable?
Being part of universities such as EPFL and ETH Zurich requires a lot of commitment, hard work and dedication. Luckily, the environment is very aspiring, from the remarkable professors to the goal-driven colleagues. I would do it all over again as I feel that every step of the experience has helped me define the focus for my career path.
At EPFL, I was a part of the Laboratory for Computational Biology and Bioinformatics that really guided me towards research. This research orientation was further strengthened by my internship at ABB Corporate Research, which gave me a taste of how research in industry works. Currently, I am working on my Master’s thesis in ETH’s Data Analytics Laboratory. I very much enjoy the discussions with the people around me who share similar interests, and the freedom I have in regards of the direction I want to pursue while still having guidance and mentoring. I am fortunate to continue as a PhD student in the same laboratory after my graduation! In retrospect, my student life was both very exciting on a personal note and it opened up many possibilities professionally.
If you had the possibility to change one thing at ETH, what would it be?
Part of the computer science Master’s program at EPFL consists of a mandatory internship. I think that this is a great way to get hands-on experience in industry and compare it to life in academia. Additionally, many students afterwards get offers for full-time positions at companies. Even though internships can be done during the CS Master’s studies at ETH, having them being non-mandatory really complicates the things for non-EU students. Coming from a non-EU country myself, I know that it can be really difficult to get an internship if you cannot prove it is a part of the program. The problem is in obtaining a work permit for the internship. A work permit cannot be issued if the internship is not mandatory for the studies. Hence, I would either incorporate them in the CS program of ETH or provide greater support for students who face such issues.
You will return to ETH for doctoral studies later this year. By choosing to do a PhD in Switzerland, this country has, to some extent, become a new "home". Which part of you is actually Swiss?
A very Swiss thing is to expect quality along with punctuality and to have everything be very organized. This is something I really enjoy and have got used to. Now, I expect things to work smoothly everywhere. In the future, I would also like to be “more Swiss” in terms of enjoying the mountains and going hiking or skiing more often.