My Data Science Internship in Davos

My name is Juliette and I study applied Mathematics at ETH in my second year of Master’s. Last semester I did an exchange at KTH in Stockholm and therefore, I finished my exam in June (much earlier than usual). I had a free summer and I decided to use this opportunity to gain professional experience. Since my main interests are statistics, machine learning and biology, I was looking for a summer internship that combines those areas.

I found my internship online through ETH studios. My internship took place in Davos with the non-profit company DavosBiosciences. The goal of my internship was to work with a biological Database and use machine learning models to predict the biological age of a person. I then used the models to find biomarkers that can be used to assess the aging process in humans and to predict age-related diseases. My task was very interesting and I learnt a lot of things!

The work atmosphere was very positive. I was warmly welcomed by my colleagues right from the start of my internship: the HR manager was very friendly, introduced me to everyone and organized a welcome lunch at a restaurant when I arrived. There were people of all ages (from my age to more experiences professionals), creating a dynamic atmosphere. For lunch, we all ate together in the cafeteria, which was very friendly and the company organized activities with the entire team.

Sometimes, the workdays felt quite long as I spent the entire day alone in front of a computer in my office, with minimal interaction with my colleagues. Furthermore, my room was in the same building as my office, making it challenging to disconnect from work as I was constantly in the same environment. Additionally, Davos is a very small village, and during the summer, there isn’t much happening there. However, whenever the weather allowed, I took the opportunity to go hiking in the beautiful mountains of Davos.

I hope that my experience will be useful to help you envision what an internship might be like.

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