Rita Gonçalves Bessa will utilise the NAD PhD programme to deepen and expand her neuroscience knowledge in preparation for shaping her PhD project.
Rita Gonçalves Bessa holds a master’s degree in Bioengineering from the University of Porto. Rita enjoys using engineering-based and innovative approaches to study biological questions, and she is particularly interested in using regenerative approaches – for example stem cell therapy - to treat neurodegenerative diseases. Aside from deepening her experience in this field, she will also utilise the pre-PhD year to gain experience within new research areas:
”One of the things I particularly enjoy about this programme is that it gives you the ability to interact with different neuroscience research fields. I would love to learn more about brain development and neural development, and I am also interested in cognition and behaviour. These fields are very new to me, and I really want to use the pre-PhD year as an opportunity to have a taste of working in for example cognitive neuroscience or with a more clinical approach, for example using PET scans or MRI’s from patients.”
Rita hopes that insights from these different fields and methodologies will help her in shaping an interesting and innovative PhD project, adding on to her existing knowledge.
Rita always wanted to do part of her education abroad:
”I want to be exposed to new experiences, work styles and people,” she says.
While she recognises that settling down in a new country will be challenging, she is excited for the intense year ahead and how it will build her confidence and independence as a scientist:
”I think the pre-PhD year will be a challenge, both professionally and personally. I think that professionally, one of the things that I will develop the most is the ability to be independent in the lab. I feel like I never had the chance to fully develop that skill. I will also be in contact with different work environments, people, dynamics and supervision styles, and I think that will give me a lot of flexibility and adaptability,” she reflects.