Love for science lit the spark for studies in biotechnology
24 Feb 2012
Raisa Mattila won the international category of the Viksu science competition in 2007 with an entry in the natural sciences. Not only did the win boost her self-confidence, it also landed her a place to study biotechnology at Tampere University of Technology. Today, Raisa is finishing up her MSc degree, while dreaming about studies abroad.
“Winning the competition was an amazing experience – it really reaffirmed my faith in myself,” Raisa recalls. “I was genuinely surprised, and extremely happy. It was nice to get recognised for something that I’d been working on so intensely, at times even at the expense of my upper secondary studies. I was home ill when I got the call that I’d won, and at first I thought I was just hallucinating.”
Spurred on by professional research
Raisa was always interested in the natural sciences back at upper secondary school, so it was quite natural that she would do her Viksu competition entry in the same field. “I wanted to study them all: physics, chemistry, biology. The specialised IB programme gave me a chance to focus on the natural sciences more than you normally could.”
With a little help from her supervisor, Raisa got an opportunity to do her Viksu competition entry on Professor Howard Jacobs’ team at the Institute of Medical Technology of the University of Tampere. “I was very interested in the team’s research, and I hadn’t really narrowed down my topic. I wanted to get a glimpse of the everyday workings of a real research team and I was sure that it would give me many interesting topics for my competition entry.”
Raisa was taken onboard Kia Kemppainen’s research, which investigated AOX gene expression under varying conditions. For her competition entry, Raisa decided to determine which of two methods for normalising real-time quantitative PCR results produced less variation: Was the slightly more expensive method – which was commonly thought of as being better – really more accurate?
“Working in a university lab was definitely an inspiring experience for me as a senior secondary student – I had so many questions! Instead of just collecting data, I wanted to produce new knowledge and understand why we did certain things in a certain way. Kia was a brilliant coach, one of the best teachers I’ve ever had,” Raisa says. “She took time to explain things from different angles and was endlessly patient. We also worked together with other researchers and I always got an answer to my questions. In the end, it took just one ‘why’ question and a not-so-comprehensive answer to give me the idea for my topic. I was also able to narrow down the topic to something manageable.”
According to Raisa, the process of writing her Viksu entry was very arduous and time-consuming, but at the same time very rewarding. “I did a lot of background work even before I got to the lab. The topic was so fascinating that it really didn’t feel like work.”
Raisa visited CERN in Geneva in spring 2009.
Flavours of student life, dreams of studies abroad
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Each year on Vappu, Walpurgis Night, TUT freshers march through Tampere city centre down to the Tammerkoski rapids for the traditional fresher baptism. The marching order is determined based on a prank contest and the winners are baptised first. Bioner won the fresher category in the year in question, and was the first group in the rapids after the ’super freshers’.
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At present, Raisa is in her fourth year at Tampere University of Technology, studying on the biotechnology degree programme and majoring in biomeasurement. She feels very much at home with her choices: “I can definitely recommend TUT to anyone! Biotechnology is a good mix of technology and human anatomy and physiology, and I’ve always been interested in those things.”
In addition to studying, Raisa has also been working part-time and actively participating in student associations. For example, she has been treasurer of the biotechnology student guild Bioner and a member of the jubilee committee. “I live in Tampere and enjoy a normal life as a student. I spend my weekdays studying and occasionally partying, and my weekends working. Regular exercise really helps me stay on track. My New Year’s resolution was to start gym training. That was the plan, and I’m sticking to it!”
Raisa may be in for some changes in her normal everyday life, if she gets a chance to fulfil her long-time dream of studying abroad. “I’m still waiting for the results, so I’m a bit nervous, actually. Against my own and many other people’s expectations, I applied to Sweden. So, by the end of August, I hope I’ll be studying at Chalmers University of Technology in Gothenburg.”
Raisa’s decision to apply to Chalmers was motivated in particular by her wish to improve her Swedish, which she thinks will be useful once she gets out into the working world. “Gothenburg is a nice-sized city with great connections to the other Nordic countries. I read tons of student reports that spoke very highly of the city, its student scene and the teaching at Chalmers. The university also offers many courses that I can include in my own studies,” she explains.
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Breaking with old paradigms
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Raisa’s primary objective for the future is to get her MSc degree in biotechnology. “After graduation, I’d like to work in a company that designs or manufactures imaging devices for hospitals, for instance. I’d also like to do some research in my own field. At the moment, though, I’m 100 per cent focused on my degree.”
Raisa says her wish of getting to the bottom of things, which also guided her in her Viksu competition entry, has followed her all through her studies. “For instance, when we’re doing maths exercises in a group, the others can get a bit frustrated with my questions. Sometimes, they say, you need to ‘just do it’. My inquisitive nature has been both a plus and a minus in terms of my studies. On one hand, it’s very useful to look at course material from many different angles and try to grasp every aspect of it. On the other hand, sometimes you just have to accept the fact that you simply can’t know or learn everything, at least not over a single course,” she says. For future Viksu participants, Raisa has this all-important message: “Don’t be afraid to ask ‘why’! ‘That’s the way it’s always been done’ is a poor excuse for an answer.”
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The fresher is now a tech student!
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Text: Heidi Blomqvist
Photos: Raisa Mattila