Indonesian Scholar Secures Fully Funded Invest Your Talent in Italy Scholarship for MSc in Sustainable Industrial Pharmaceutical Biotechnology at the University of Siena

Ciao a tutti! My name is Elizabeth Ratnasantasyacitta from Indonesia, and since I was little, I’ve been dreaming of studying abroad. Now, I’m pursuing an MSc in Sustainable Industrial Pharmaceutical Biotechnology at the University of Siena, Italy. I have a Bachelor of Pharmacy and am a licensed pharmacist back in my country.

I pursued a degree in pharmacy because I wanted to know how medicines are discovered and created after going through a gruelling, months-long hospitalization when I was 9 years old. As I went on my studies and got my license, I realized that pharmacy is much more than that, and there are a lot of roles I can get into. I decided to pursue a master’s degree because I feel like there’s more to learn about the ever-evolving pharmaceutical industry. I found my current degree, which not only focuses on pharmaceutical biotechnology but also takes on sustainability, which is becoming more and more important in this era.

I received the Invest Your Talent in Italy Scholarship program from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Italy in 2024 to continue my studies here in Italy. The scholarship is a fully-funded scholarship, including the tuition fee and a monthly allowance of €1,000 for 9 months per academic year.

Educational Background

My undergraduate degree was in pharmacy. I did the 5-year pharmacy school and actively participated in organizations, with my main focus on an international organization, which is the International Pharmaceutical Students’ Federation (IPSF). I have a 3.59/4.00 GPA for my bachelor's and did a lot of internships during my pharmacy internship periods. It helped me to focus my choice in career, where I found that the pharmaceutical industry is more suitable for me than clinical pharmacy. I enjoyed working in the lab during my undergraduate because I also helped my undergraduate thesis supervisor with her projects. From then on, I decided that I wanted to pursue a more focused degree in something that is not only interesting for me but also will have a broader choice in the future, because the pharmaceutical industry keeps evolving. We’re not only talking about extracting the plants, but we’re working on implementing AI/ML for drug discovery to help with the sustainability approach.

How Did You Prepare to Apply to the University of Siena?

I found the SIPhaB program at the University of Siena by looking on the internet. I didn’t focus my search on Italy, but I looked at and catalogued a lot of study programs from a lot of universities and countries. I also checked on the scholarship’s website and found that SIPhaB is listed as one of the programs that they sponsored or supported. For the university, I applied using my bachelor’s transcripts, motivation letter, and IELTS. I have taken the IELTS in the previous year, so I use that score. My IELTS preparation is done through the internet, and I prepare for reading from any websites I can find. I listen to a lot of Western songs, mostly Taylor Swift, and watch a lot of British series to train my listening and pronunciation. My program is in English, and the minimum level is B2.

How Did You Prepare to Apply Invest Your Talent in Italy Scholarship?

The Invest Your Talent in Italy scholarship, or IYT, is a very unique scholarship because it pushes the awardees to actually invest their talents in Italy by requiring an internship in an Italian company, which will help not only to add more experience but also to start a career in the country. The application form is also interesting because it requires a 1-minute video of us trying to introduce ourselves and persuade the committee to accept us. I research a lot of previous awardees' videos because some have posted their application video on YouTube. I watched them and tried to craft my video that shows my own uniqueness, ensuring that I’m not just copying the previous awardees’ structure. I’m not really sure what made my application stand out, but maybe because I put my own experience, which became the main reason why I wanted to pursue a degree in pharmacy, and connected it with why I think Italy is the right place for me to pursue a higher education in my field.

What Advice Would You Give Those Looking to Apply for a Similar Scholarship?

In my personal opinion, I think everyone who wants to pursue a higher education, like a master's or doctoral needs to understand the reason why they’re pursuing it. A higher degree means a greater responsibility and more to learn. When you know the reason why, that’s how you will also be able to craft your own motivation letter that will attract or persuade the scholarship committee. Another advice would be to do more thorough research on your university and country choice, why you chose that university and country, and what makes them the right choice for you to pursue your field. Research is the only thing that I always suggest to people. When you find the answers, everything will work for you. Just remember to never give up because what you genuinely chase will come for you.