by Tasmiah Akter

For two months this summer, Maryam Badr ‘25 traveled to the Shiv Nadar University in Greater Noida, India to do computational neuroscience research on hippocampal place cells with Dr. Sachin Deshmukh in the Department of Life Sciences. Maryam chose to take on this endeavor due to her passion for science, medicine, and social impact & change. 

When asked about her day to day at Shiv Nadar University, Maryam said she started her mornings by brushing up on literature relevant to the work and then began working on a code with her lab partner. Then, she said, “Once we finished the code, we would prepare to present it to the graduate student who would give us feedback before our next meeting.” At the end of the two months, she got the chance to lead a literature review and lab meeting with her team of undergraduates and graduate students! 

This opportunity was made possible by The Undergraduate International Studies and Foreign Language Program (UISFL) of the U. S. Department of Education, Fries Center for Global Studies (FCGS), College of Integrative Sciences (CIS), and the University.

Maryam recounts the research experience as one that allowed for personal and academic growth. “Doing research abroad teaches you the importance of adapting to new environments and cultures, and really pushes you to build your academic foundation and interpersonal skills. During the weekends, I had the opportunity to travel throughout India and be immersed in its diverse and beautiful cultures. I made so many friends in and outside the lab, who I hope to see again in the future.” If you are interested in doing research abroad in India, please reach out to the CIS director, Seth Redfield (sredfield@wesleyan.edu) or Director for Intercultural Learning at the FCGS, Anita Deeg-Carlin (adeegcarlin@wesleyan.edu).