Emma Lemmens, PhD student in the Raes lab, arrived in the Finnish university town of Turku for a two-week research stay to learn how to use a new analytical pipeline. She also came back with renewed confidence, fresh motivation, and a stronger sense that she had found the right place to grow as a scientist.
Emma only started her PhD in September, but her path into microbiome research had already been taking shape for some time. She studied biology at KU Leuven and first became involved in this field through her master’s thesis at the Raes lab. “One thing led to the other,” she explains, “and I got the opportunity to stay and start a PhD.”
Her MSc thesis focused on the effects of different pharmaceutical compounds on the gut microbiota, using an in vitro colon model. In her PhD, Emma has now shifted towards a topic that fits even more closely with her personal interests: the effects of fermented foods on the gut microbiota, again using that same in vitro colon model.
“I’m actually very interested in nutrition,” she says. “So for me, the puzzle pieces really fell into place.”
Emma’s current project is connected to HealthFerm, a European consortium focused on developing healthier plant-based foods. The wider goal of the project is to help shift the average European diet towards more plant-based nutrition, and to explore how ingredients such as oats and legumes can be used to create alternatives to products like yoghurt or meat. Within that consortium, the Raes lab studies if and how these foods affect the gut microbiota.
“At some point, the lab was looking for someone who could step into that project,” Emma explains. “Because I already had experience with the model, it made sense for me to take it on. I thought that was really exciting.”
For her research stay, Emma travelled to the Hanhineva lab at the University of Turku, one of the consortium partners. That team specializes in untargeted metabolomics, an area that complements the microbiome work done in Leuven. The Hanhineva lab analyzes all the samples from both the clinical studies in the project and the in vitro experiments conducted in Leuven, helping to map the many metabolites that are produced in response to diet and microbial activity.
“I went to Turku to follow the whole pipeline from A to Z,” Emma says. “The experiments had already been done here in Leuven, but the samples still had to be analyzed. In Turku, I could see how the samples are prepped before they go onto the LC-MS, and then also how the data analysis works afterwards, with peak alignment and statistical analysis in R.”
“That hands-on experience was really valuable, and not just for the HealthFerm work,” she says. “The same type of analyses may become important in my own project later on, so it was very useful to learn it there.”
Her day-to-day supervisor in Leuven, staff scientist Ruben Vazquez Uribe, encouraged her to go for the short research stay, and Emma felt genuinely welcomed from the start by her Finnish colleagues. “I was received with open arms,” she says. “Even though I was there only for a short period of time, the team really involved me in their work and activities.”
That sense of scientific community mattered. Starting a PhD can be exciting, but also overwhelming, especially in the first year. Emma is open about that transition.
“A PhD is such a commitment,” she says. “It’s four years of hard work. Suddenly, you are part of this whole academic world. As a newbie, it can take some time to find your footing. But spending time in another inspiring research environment, on top of the one I already know in Leuven, reminded me how special it is to be part of that environment.”
That is exactly why she would recommend this kind of experience to other early-stage PhD students. “For me, it came at exactly the right moment. It reminded me why I wanted to do this in the first place.”
The stay itself took place during an exceptionally cold spell, even by Finnish standards. “It was around minus fifteen to minus twenty degrees outside,” Emma says. “But it was also often very sunny, which made it beautiful.”
She stayed a little longer to spend a night in Helsinki, but most of her time was dedicated to work. “I had my FWO application deadline coming up at the same time, so it was definitely a full-time working retreat,” she says. “Lab work by day, grant writing by night.”
Still, she could carve out some time to experience Finland too, including a memorable introduction to one of its best-known traditions: sauna! “Two PhD students in the Hanhineva told me that I absolutely had to try the sauna and cold water swimming,” Emma says. “So I did.”
The experience made an impression. “We went from the sauna into ice-cold water, back to the sauna, back in the water,” she recalls. “At first, it was horrible! When you come out of that water, everything hurts. But afterwards, something happened in my body. I felt like icy water was flowing out of all my pores. It felt incredibly cleansing. I slept like a baby that night. I suddenly understood why people love it so much.”
Beyond the icy swims and bright winter skies, Emma was also struck by the research culture in Turku. Some things felt familiar: like Leuven, Turku is very much a university city, with many international students and researchers, and English spoken everywhere. But there were also differences, for example, in relation to funding.
The trip may not be Emma’s last. In the context of her FWO proposal, the option of returning to Turku has already been discussed. She would really enjoy going again, though if she is allowed to dream a little, she admits another destination also appeals.
“Secretly, I might also like to go somewhere warmer,” she says, laughing. “I’ve already done Erasmus in Denmark, now this research stay in Finland, so I’ve gotten to know Scandinavia a bit. Because I work on fermented foods and the gut microbiota, I also think it would be amazing to spend time somewhere like Italy, where there is so much food science.”
That combination of personal interest and scientific curiosity has been a guiding thread throughout her academic journey so far. “When I went to university, I deliberately chose biology because I was very interested not only in the human body, but also in ecology,” Emma says. “Microbiology and the human-focused courses were the ones that fascinated me most. With microbiome research, I feel like I can really combine those two big interests.”
As Emma’s story shows, a PhD is not always a straight line, and confidence does not always come immediately. But sometimes, a new environment, a supportive team, and a chance to learn something new can make all the difference.
For Emma, two weeks in Turku were enough to bring that into focus. “It really gave me a sense of excitement,” she says. “It has been a great motivational boost for me to make the most of the coming years as a PhD student.”
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