Hello, I am Zhengke Tu from Homma-lab, Waseda University. I spent 3 months from November 2023 to February 2024 in FH Aachen – University of Applied Science, under the supervision of Professor Dr Michael J. Schöning. To explore the possibility of applying surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) analysis technique to field-effect biosensor-related measurement. With the high sensitivity of SERS, it is a strong tool to help understand the functionalization binding event taking place in a nano-order scale near the biosensor surface, which is difficult to observe with other analysis techniques. Within these three months, I learned in detail the mechanism and handling of field-effect device measurement and conducted preliminary experiments on the application of SERS sensors to nanocarrier measuring.
The school is in a town called Jülich, near the border of Germany with the Netherlands and Belgium, with a population of around 33,000 people. The school is surrounded by nature, the views are refreshing for someone who lives in the center of Tokyo. when the weather is nice, the view on my way to school can be breathtaking. It is a tranquil town, with individual houses along the road, always with beautifully decorated windows. There is a university and a research center in town, making it a very educated environment.

It was a good opportunity to observe an education system that is quite different from Japan. I got to participate in a graduation thesis defense and witnessed how the undergraduate students work side by side with the Ph.D. candidates in the lab. All the students and staff in the lab are super friendly and willing to help, either with my research or with my daily life in Germany. I get to have discussions with my colleagues daily and actively plan out experiments to do or procedures to learn. Besides school days, we also hang out from time to time, making Christmas cookies, playing board games, and exploring Christmas markets and restaurants in town.
I also took chances to travel to other countries inside of the Schengen area, like Spain, France, Belgium, Netherlands, and Austria. Having to figure out different transportation systems with foreign languages can be quite stressful but the sense of accomplishment is also unmatched. The museums and historical buildings in each country are full of exciting pieces and it is a pleasure to get to see those artworks with my own eyes. And get to peep into the day-to-day life of people in those countries. Get a glimpse of how they think and what they value. It has been eye-opening and inspiring.

With experimental samples brought back from Germany, the collaboration research continues. I am excited to see how my research topic can contribute to the bio-engineering field. I am keeping in close contact with my colleagues and Professor Schoening to discuss the experiment results obtained with the Raman spectroscopy measurements I conducted after returning to Japan and working toward publication.
I deeply thank my supervisor, Professor Takayuki Homma for this valuable opportunity, all the support from the administrative staff, and the financial support from PEP program. I am also very grateful to Professor Schoening and all the students and colleagues at FH Aachen for welcoming and taking care of me during my stay.