Placement Information
Year you started your placement
2015
Placement period
May – August, September – December
Supervisor’s name
Vahid Sandoghdar
Project Details
Overview
The Max Planck institute for the science of light (Sandoghdar Division) explores various aspect of light-matter interaction at the nanometer scale. The group concentrate on research involving quantum optics, laser spectroscope, cryogenics, and optical imaging. Many projects work on the interface between physics and biology by employing advance optical technique to observe biological samples.
Project objectives
Over the last several month, I have been working on a project using Interferometric Scattering microscopy (iSCAT) to observe unlabeled proteins secreted by cells in real time. iSCAT is an ultrafast and ultrasensitive microscopy method using an inverted microscope to collect reflected and scattered light due to Rayleigh scattering from the sample being observed. iSCAT takes advantage of the fact that the reflected light and scattered light are coherent and their interference produces beating. When measuring the intensity of light coming out of iSCAT, there is an interference term that is proportional to the first order of the amplitude of the scattered light. When observing single protein which only produces a small scattering amplitude, this interference term is easier to detect than the scattered light term alone which is proportional to the second order of the scattering amplitude. The percentage of light a protein can scatter depends on its scattering cross section which is proportional to the size of the protein. In theory, if we increase the incident power, in other words, the number of photons that hit the protein, we can observe arbitrarily small proteins. However, in practice we are limited by background noise such as those caused by the surface roughness of the substrate. One way to eliminate background noise is to take differential image as the surface roughness does not change before and after protein binding to the substrate, therefore can be subtracted. The experimental data is processed in MATLAB to produce histograms and videos. As a student, I work on the interface of physics and biology. For example, I assembled the optical microscope used for iSCAT by which I learnt many fundamental concepts of optics. I also handled different cell lines and biochemical reagents.
Research outcomes
Project status
Completed
Expected completion date
12/29/2015
Rachel Rui Qi Zhao – 2015 – Presentation
My Co-op Experience at MPI
Why did you apply for a placement with Max Planck Institute?
The research conducted in Prof. Sandoghdar’s group on the interface of optics and biology especially appealed to me as a biophysics student as I would like to work in the frontier of this field. The Max Planck institute is renowned for producing cutting edge research in various field of science. Professor Sandoghdar’s group at MPL is an intellectually stimulating environment in which I hope to develop good research habit and learn from people who are extremely passionate, efficient and focused.
What recommendations do you have for students who wish to participate in MPI-UBC exchange program?
Be engaged and always ask questions. A good way to show people that you want to work with them is to be engaged when they talk about their work and to not just pretend that you understand everything they say. Through my experience at MPL I realized that a research environment is drastically different from classrooms in that new knowledge is discovered on a daily basis and you might only be able to understand it by engaging in a discussion and asking many questions. When it comes to experimental design, new ideas can be proposed constantly to improve the existing one. When you are not getting the results you want, asking questions both to other people and to yourself can act as a sanity check which helps that you understand what you are doing.
Get out of your comfort zone. First time working and traveling in a foreign country can be intimidating, but once you stepped out you will find that the world embraces you with warm welcome. Do not be afraid if you don’t speak German as I found that many Germans do in fact speak English, therefore, not speaking German will unlikely be an obstacle in your daily life. However, MPL does provide German coursed catered to various levels and I am taking a beginner class because I think that German is a beautiful language.
Tell us about your travels and cultural experiences in Germany and the rest of the Europe
Traveling is a definitely a highlight of my experience in Europe. From a small wine village in rural Germany to the Notre Dame de Paris, Germany’s rich culture and its central location in Europe give you so many choices when it comes to traveling. I often travel by bus, plane, and train.
German beer festivals are world famous and indeed there are many local beer that are a lot of fun to go to. In addition, there are many festivals with different themes where people gather, drink and eat all year around. Germany offers a diverse travel experience from a beautiful sunset at a Vineyard in a nearly Village, to the Museum Island in Berlin where famous artifacts and artworks are laid out in front of you with a detail audio guide. On extended weekends I have visited Prague, Paris, Nice, Vienna, Copenhagen, and Geneva. Some highlights include seeing Don Giovanni in the national theater in Prague where the piece originated, climbing the arc de triomphe to see a Paris nightscape, walking along the mediterranean sea in Nice, visiting CERN in Geneva… Travelling has allowed me to make connections between what I read in books and how things really are.
