Aiganym Ryskali, an 11th-grade student at NIS Almaty–Nauryzbay, was awarded an SSP grant from Purdue University, a leading research university in the United States, and took part in its selective summer research program for high school students from around the world.

The selection process is highly competitive: around 4,600 students apply to the program each year, with only 700 young researchers ultimately selected.

Aiganym chose Biochemistry as her field of study. Five weeks in a university laboratory in the United States, researching the fungal pathogen Claviceps purpurea as part of a three-person team, attending lectures, communicating with professors and lecturers, meeting students from around the world, and immersing herself in science every day — this is how Aiganym describes her experience:

“What I enjoyed most was working in the laboratory: conducting experiments, analyzing results, and seeing how theoretical knowledge can turn into real scientific discoveries.

My SSP experience showed me how closely chemistry and biology are connected and how combining the two disciplines makes it possible to gain a deeper understanding of the processes that take place in living organisms.

My biology teacher, Aigul Zhaksanova, gave me a strong foundation in biology and helped me study the curriculum in English. Thanks to this, during SSP I was able to understand the program material more easily and independently connect the topics I had already studied at NIS with the research we were conducting.

My chemistry teacher, Bibizhan Kemal, also gave me a strong foundation in the subject. This made it easier for me to understand chemical calculations and work with different reagent concentrations during SSP.

Overall, my school preparation in biology and chemistry helped me adapt more quickly to the academic demands of the SSP program.”