Student testimonial

Yoonseon Do: Whenever I reached out for help in the laboratory, coffee corner, or office, everyone was always responsive, supportive, and helpful.

After having amazing experiences at NEMA during my MSC thesis, I decided to continue my internship at NEMA with Averis Seeds B.V., starting in March 2025. It was an extended journey with Globodera pallida, a potato cyst nematode and an important pathogen affecting potato production. As I wanted to further research this nematode, this opportunity was the perfect fit for me to work as an intern!

Yoonseo Do
Whenever I reached out for help in the laboratory, coffee corner, or office, everyone was always responsive, supportive, and helpful.
Yoonseo Do
Yoonseon Do.jpeg

My internship primarily focused on potato resistance to G. pallida. The topic of my project was “Phenotypic and Genomic Characterization of Potato Resistance to Globodera pallida”. During the internship, which lasted five months, I carried out three different projects. I performed in vitro assays with different potato genotypes, nematode inoculations, DNA isolation, qPCR, whole-genome sequence, quantitative data analysis, and phenotyping evaluation. It was truly hands-on experience to be part of a potato breeding program. I thoroughly enjoyed learning new experimental techniques and gaining knowledge about potato plant defense mechanism in potato after nematode infection.

The reason why my performance was so successful was because of the NEMA people. Whenever I reached out for help in the laboratory, coffee corner, or office, everyone was always responsive, supportive, and helpful. In addition, the NEMA group regularly organizes entertaining activities. This time, the highlight was the summer BBQ, which was incredibly memorable and a lot of fun – a great way to get to know each other better! I highly recommend attending all of these wonderful activities that take place at NEMA.

Doing an internship at the NEMA group is truly a great opportunity to learn both research and practical knowledge on plant parasitic nematodes, plant-nematode interaction, and plant breeding. I was able to experience both the academic and industrial perspectives. NEMA is the largest academic group for nematode research in the world - and of course, you can be proud to be part of it :)