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International graduate awarded doctorate degree

The last time we spoke with Apurva Shrivastava, it was the summer of 2017. She was an international scholarship student at HAW Hamburg and was planning her Master’s thesis for her degree in pharmaceutical biotechnology. She was thrilled to have been offered a place at Hamburg’s University Hospital (UKE) as part of an EU-funded research project in the field of molecular cardiology. This summer she completed her PhD at the UKE and is now continuing her research career as a postdoc.

Female person from India sitting in a university foyer

Apurva Shrivastava, international HAW Hamburg graduate

Apurva’s research focus for her PhD looked at the epidemiological and transcriptome analysis of iron deficiency in cardiovascular disease. ‘I have always been interested in the field of cardiology and during my Master’s thesis at the UKE, I had the opportunity to work with leading scientists in this field, which helped widen my perspective and gain experience in cardiovascular research. Three months into my Master’s research, I knew that this was something I wanted to continue at PhD level. Fortunately for me, my supervisor, Prof. Dr. Tanja Zeller, was happy to offer me a place on her research team, for which I am very thankful.’

A love of individual research and teamwork

The starting point of Apurva’s PhD thesis was to look at datasets available through general population-based studies and a heart-failure patient cohort. Parallel to the data analysis, she also established her own novel cell-culture model to study the target genes obtained from the transcriptome analysis. Lab work is what she enjoys the most. Designing experiments, analysing the results, presenting the good and bad results and discussing them with other colleagues is what she finds most motivating. ‘I had great team members with whom I could discuss any problems. Networking and finding collaboration partners was also very helpful during my research.’

In addition to research in the lab, interdisciplinary classes, seminars and workshops were an important part of Apurva’s PhD programme at the UKE. ‘The research method seminars were an introduction to biostatistics and R, which were crucial to be able to perform the data analysis in my thesis. Personally, that really pushed me out of my comfort zone. In addition to coding, I have learnt the key skills of perseverance, scientific communication, and strategies of project management.’

I was also part of a project with international collaborators within Europe and this helped me widen my perspective on the abundance of possibilities that exist in achieving a research goal together.

National and international conferences were a real highlight for Apurva during the past three years, as they enabled her to network with more experienced researchers, who, she says, were always open to discussion and for collaborations. One particular collaboration helped with a technique which she was able to use for her thesis. ‘I was also part of a project with international collaborators within Europe and this helped me widen my perspective on the abundance of possibilities that exist in achieving a research goal together.’

Challenging times during the Corona pandemic

For all of us, the last three years have been linked to extreme challenges and as a new PhD student, the COVID-19 pandemic hit Apurva hard. ‘The pandemic made planning and milestone-mapping particularly difficult and it caused a lot of delays in communication. Thankfully things did work out by the end, so I would like PhD students to know that they are not alone and that they can get the support they need in difficult times.’

For Apurva, support in difficult times came in different forms. She received continuous support from her 'Doktormutter', Prof. Zeller, who also suggested that she apply for dynaMENT; a mentoring programme designed by DESY and the University of Hamburg for women researchers in natural sciences. ‘This programme allowed me to have one-on-one discussions with a mentor, helping me to overcome any difficulties I was having. She was also able to provide key insights into a career in academia. I am so glad that I was accepted into the programme. It is usually just for one year, but with Prof. Dr. Eva Tolosa I found a mentor for life.’

After four challenging years, Apurva is very happy to have successfully completed her PhD, and when we caught up with her, she had just taken a well-deserved holiday in India to visit family. But now, her batteries are recharged and she is off on the next part of her career journey. ‘I would like to keep the flame for research growing. I have started my postdoc with Prof. Dr. Mahir Karakas at the UKE. For now, I will be focusing on publishing the data obtained from my PhD thesis and if possible, applying for research funding.

Contact

Ingrid Weatherall
HAW Hamburg
International Office

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