Natalia has just completed a Molecular Biotechnology Bachelor of Science degree at Curtin University. She was keen to do a summer research project at the ANU before commencing her honours year at the University of Western Australia in 2008.

Visiting the School of Biology for the summer was a year long goal that Natalia set at the beginning of 2007 when she heard about the program and the scholarship opportunity. While her short term goal is to obtain an honours degree she hopes to spend some time working in a laboratory before eventually undertaking a PhD project. Natalia found that the research intensive environment at the ANU was a great option to help her achieve this goal. Spending her summer break as a summer scholar has given Natalia a great insight into academic aspects of science.

Natalia's project involved working with plants in the Genomic Interactions group. The project was a new and exciting topic of research for her to undertake, and has broadened her scientific knowledge. In particular, Natalia worked with flavonoids in Arabidopsis. Flavonoids are antioxidant compounds with potential as anti-cancer therapies but many aspects of their roles in plant function remain elusive.

She undertook a series of three experiments of which two were new approaches never attempted in the host lab before. An element of her scholarship experience that Natalia particularly enjoyed was being given "research freedom", and she says that she "really enjoyed being given independence to undertake the work herself yet having ready access to a range of supervisors".

"The summer scholarships are definitely better than staying at home and working a summer job", says Natalia who happily flew to the other side of Australia to join the Summer Scholar program. The social aspect of the scholarship program has also been an enjoyable part of her stay and she has particularly enjoyed mixing with a "group of peers who were equally committed and dedicated to the scholarship program". Natalia saw the Summer Scholar program as an excellent introduction to research work and recommended the ANU as an ideal location to embark on a higher degree courses.