ESR1 Secondment blog
Being a part of this PhD program gave me the possibility to experience an interdisciplinary training by working in a tech company. My secondment took place in Neuchatel, Switzerland. I had the chance to be part of the Edge Artificial Intelligence and Vision group at CSEM, the Swiss Center for Electronics and Microtechnology. I spent 4 months with the team while I was trained in Python programming language, deep learning and image processing.
Even though this was a completely new field for me, as my background is in veterinary medicine and food sciences, my new colleagues made me feel immediately welcomed and helped me through all the phases of my secondment. This experience put me out of my comfort zone and made me face new challenges I would have never expected to deal with.
After more than one year spent in Fribourg, which I consider now my home, it was challenging to move to another city and adapt to a different working environment. Nevertheless, I am glad I had to do this, and I can now say it was definitely worth the effort. I have now some background in computer vision, programming and image processing, which I would have never imagined developing and could open to new possibilities for my future career.
I am also glad to be given a chance to live in another canton of Switzerland and experience its culture. Neuchatel is a beautiful city situated on the edge of the lake (which has the same name). It is a lovely place to visit and to live in, especially in spring and summer. Many events take place in the city, from music festivals, food markets, theatre and art exhibitions. I really enjoyed my stay!