Visiting Researcher Community Day, pela Fulbrighter Francisca Castro Mendes
Leia o testemunho da Fulbrighter Francisca Castro Mendes, que ao abrigo da Bolsa Fulbright para Investigação e no âmbito do seu doutoramento em Saúde Pública da Universidade do Porto desenvolveu investigação em Johns Hopkins University – Bloomberg School, Baltimore, MD.
(Francisca, a segunda à esquerda)
«On February 7th 2020, I had the opportunity to attend the Visiting Researcher Community Day event in Washington, DC. It was a very interesting experience since it was possible to meet other Fulbrighters in person and hearing about everyone’s programs. We started by having a great breakfast and introducing ourselves to each other. We learned about the program mission and common challenges faced by Visiting Researchers, while playing question-answer games to see similarities between each other. An important aspect addressed during the meeting was the information regarding local resources in the DC area including fun local experiences like music festivals and nice places to eat and visit. After lunch, we participated in a local cultural activity – a visit to The National Museum of American History. Here, we had the opportunity to see the museum, relating the American culture and history with each Fulbrighter culture and research field.
My favorite part of the meeting was to hear and discuss Fulbright experiences with alumni and current Fulbrighters. As a PhD student, and in the middle of my Fulbright Program it was important to hear their advices and the influence of Fulbright in their lives. At the end, we had an amazing “researcher networking hour”. We shared our cultures and talked about foods and places to visit.
As my IIE advisor, Raanan Barach, once suggested, the Fulbright Program is much more than just a research fellowship. It is a true community.»
Muito obrigada, Francisca, por partilhar connosco esta valiosa experiência! It is a true community!