University students pilot ACS-funded international mentorship program

Two students were selected last year to pilot an international exchange program between the American Chemical Society Brazil Chapter and ACS National University of Costa Rica (UNA) Student Chapter. Chemistry students Rebecca Bicalho, from Brazil, and Maricruz Monge, from Costa Rica, had the opportunity to work in laboratories at universities in each other’s country and gain experience and knowledge in areas of chemistry they weren’t used to working in. The program also included ongoing mentorship.

“The main idea of this mentorship program is to develop and improve skills,” says Óscar Soto Corrales, a member of ACS’s UNA Student Chapter. “We wanted to give the students an international experience in another laboratory at another university so they could do research in a field that they could be interested in.”

Monge was assigned to the Environmental Nanotechnology Laboratory at the Paulista State University in Sorocaba, Brazil, with Leonardo Fernandes Fraceto, chair of the ACS Brazil Chapter, as her supervisor and mentor. Bicalho worked at the Biorefinery Research Laboratory at the National University of Costa Rica with supervisor Luis Roberto Villegas.

The concept of the exchange program came during an ACS summit in Rio de Janeiro in 2022 that both Corrales and Fraceto attended. At one point, people were asked to break into small groups and discuss new opportunities for engaging with one another. Fraceto and Corrales began talking and came up with the idea of a program between their countries. In their follow-up, it was suggested that they look into an ACS Global Innovation Grant. Corrales applied, and ACS approved initial funding for the program.

It was the first time either student had traveled outside her country. According to the students, their major challenges included adapting to a new culture and language and living on their own for the first time.

“My favorite part, as a mentor, is the opportunity to share the experience from my country, my science, my worklife, with people from another country,” Fraceto says.

And while the program is meant to enrich the students’ understanding of science, academia, and other cultures, Fraceto says he learned a lot about Costa Rica—which he hadn’t visited before—by mentoring Maricruz. Outside science, they spoke about food and football.

Corrales described both students as more enthusiastic and confident upon their return to their respective countries. “I considered the experience successful when I saw they were more independent, more sure,” he says, adding that they both seem to have boosted their soft and research skills.

Monge and Bicalho have shared their experiences with C&EN in their own words.

From Costa Rica to Brazil: Maricruz’s experience

On July 14, I traveled to Brazil for an international exchange, supported by the ACS Brazil Chapter. The main objective was to attend the Paulista State University in Sorocaba, where I worked in the Environmental Nanotechnology Laboratory under the direction of Leonardo Fernandes Fraceto.

In the laboratory, I learned about research and projects that have been carried out mainly with the formulation of nanoparticles, with applications in fields such as agriculture and medicine. I met the work team, which was made up of professors, researchers, and graduate students from different countries. Instructions and communication in the laboratory were in English, Spanish, and Portuguese.

My work consisted of learning different techniques and formulations of polymeric nanoparticles using natural matrices for the encapsulation of compounds of interest in agriculture. I learned and executed the different methodologies for the synthesis of nanoparticles, such as dynamic light-scattering nanoparticle analysis, nanoparticle tracking analysis, and high-performance liquid chromatography analysis. This included learning and using equipment for their characterization, too.

As part of the experience, I visited the campus of the Federal University of São Carlos, where I explored a biomaterials research laboratory. I also went to the campus of the University of São Paulo in São Carlos, where I met and shared with the university’s ACS student chapter group and toured the biochemistry, analytical, and biochemical laboratories. I also stopped by the University of São Paulo in that city and met with its ACS student chapter. I explored the biochemistry, chemical analysis, and physical chemistry laboratories there too; professors told me about the research they have done and have published, and showed me the equipment they work with. While in Sorocaba, I called on a company called Chemyunion, dedicated to the production of chemical inputs and raw materials for different industries. I toured the facilities while some processes were explained to me.

Outside the lab, I toured the city of Sorocaba, São Carlos and São Paulo. I tasted typical Brazilian dishes such as feijoada, coxinha, azai, guarana, and tapioca. I went to shopping malls, ecological parks, local festivals, a circus, fairs, and other places. I met and shared with local people who taught me about their culture, their food, and their language. They made sure that I had a pleasant experience in their culture and that the academic part was very enriching. I also lived with other Latinos—mainly Peruvians and Colombians—who welcomed me during my stay, and we created beautiful friendships and shared about our countries and cultures.

It was a very rewarding experience at the academic level to exchange knowledge, to put into practice previous theoretical knowledge, and to acquire practice in the synthesis and characterization of nanoparticles. On a personal level, I had to be resourceful. I had to adapt to different environments, establish social relationships, and try to communicate not only in English but also in Portuguese. Overall, I really enjoyed the stay, sharing, and learning from different people.

From Brazil to Costa Rica: Rebecca’s experience

Traveling to Costa Rica was a dream come true for me, as I had never left Brazil, and this reality seemed distant. From the moment of ticket purchase to my last day of the trip, the people involved in organizing this exchange program were extremely welcoming and attentive. They took care of ticket purchases, apartment reservations, university contacts, and excursion arrangements. I traveled with an excellent airline, was picked up at the airport, stayed in a comfortable apartment, was introduced to the National University of Costa Rica (UNA), went on various sightseeing trips with ACS student chapter members, and remained in constant contact with them in case I needed assistance. Everyone went out of their way to make sure it was a great experience for me, both inside and outside the lab.

The trip was very enriching. I got to know a new culture, tried typical dishes from the region such as casado and corn tortilla; visited beautiful places such as Poás Volcano National Park, the Celeste River, Tamarindo Beach and the National Theater of Costa Rica; and learned about the country’s history, geography, politics, and economy through conversations with people there and a guided tour of the capital, San José. I developed my communication skills in English, learned a little Spanish, and taught a little Portuguese, too. At the university, I learned about research projects from different areas of chemistry and shared and listened to students’ career plans. This was something that really caught my attention, as the modalities of the chemistry course at UNA are different from those at the university where I study, the Federal University of Minas Gerais (UFMG); the objectives of most UNA students are related to industry, while many UFMG students intend to pursue an academic career. Finally, I had the opportunity to give two presentations in English and, as I had never done this before, the presentations were challenges in which I overcame my fears about communicating in another language and learned a lot during the preparation process.

During this exchange, I worked on a research project in the area of biochemistry, supervised by Luis Roberto Villegas. He was studying the best synthetic route to phosphorylate a sugar, and I helped by doing experiments in the lab. With this, I learned many techniques for setting up organic synthesis reactions, separated and identified products using different methods that I was not used to working with, like thin-layer chromatography plates and chromatographic columns, and had contact with new equipment, such as the ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography ultraviolet. Since I was working with reactions catalyzed by transition metals in Brazil, it was a great opportunity to have contact with another area and acquire new knowledge that has contributed to my project. I believe that the biggest challenges I faced were understanding the theoretical part of the research and its objective, learning everything I didn’t know in the experimental part, manipulating new equipment, and dealing with different laboratory dynamics.

During the trip, I participated in a meeting of the ACS UNA Student Chapter, where I met some members and gave a presentation about the UFMG Student Chapter, a group I am part of in Brazil. In this presentation, I shared a little about how we organize ourselves internally and the events we hold. It was a really cool moment to exchange experiences. I believe that something that could be added to the program is greater contact with all chapter members, whether on trips or lunches at the university.

This experience challenged me and made me grow both professionally and personally. I developed my communication in English a lot, and since I was able to notice many personal difficulties, I came back to Brazil willing to improve my English and learn Spanish. The two presentations I gave were very enriching experiences for me to overcome my fear and recognize that I need to improve my technical vocabulary. Learning in such a short time about another area of research and being able to accomplish everything that was proposed to me taught me that all I need to do is to be willing to study, learn, and accept help. I learned that I have to experience various opportunities that can arise in the world of chemistry and not limit myself to just one area or underestimate my abilities. The best part of the trip was the people I met, who helped me in the lab, who worried about my safety, who shared their culture with me and were willing to learn about my country too—everyone who somehow made this trip more special. I would like to highlight my gratitude to Leonardo Fraceto for selecting me for the exchange program; to Oscar, Michelle, Maricruz, and José Corrales, who are members of the ACS UNA Student Chapter, for welcoming me so well; for the partnership during the time I was in Costa Rica and for organizing every detail of the trip; and to Ana Francis and Luis Roberto for guiding me and teaching me so much. I thank the ACS UFMG Student Chapter for the opportunity to learn from the group, organize such incredible events, and for being nominated for this exchange. Finally, I thank the American Chemical Society for financing the trip and for supporting growth experiences like this for chemistry professionals.

Fraceto and Corrales have already submitted a revised proposal for the next iteration of the program and are looking into other forms of funding, hoping to garner enough support to exchange two to six students at one time. After getting more of a sense of the impact from additional students, they hope to expand the program to other countries.