Science, Stories, and Craic: A BRAVO! Summer in Ireland
This summer, I had the privilege of joining the BRAVO! program and working with the D-PrED Lab at the University of Arizona in collaboration with Dr. Vivek Verma’s Lab at University College Cork. My project focused on reformulating the diabetes drug linagliptin using deep eutectic solvents. Alongside experiments characterizing this new formulation, I also took on the challenge of computational modeling, learning to run simulations on high-performance computers to better understand how molecules interact at the atomic level to produce the observed behavior. What once felt impossibly abstract—coding languages, supercomputer permissions, molecular dynamics—gradually became a toolkit I could navigate. Each small breakthrough in the lab mirrored the larger growth I experienced in finding my place in Ireland.
Ireland itself was breathtaking. Just a short train ride from Cork brought me to Cobh, the Titanic’s final port of call, where pastel-colored houses overlooked the harbor. In Kinsale, I wandered through narrow streets before climbing to the ruins of Charles Fort, its stone walls standing guard over the sea. On another weekend, I walked through the lively squares of Galway and sat beneath the Oscar Wilde statue in Merrion Square Park in Dublin. Belfast offered a different perspective, from the shipbuilding history of the Titanic to sobering exhibits on the Troubles in the Ulster Museum. London, too, became part of my journey, where the British Museum prompted reflection on imperial legacies and a performance of The Crucible at Shakespeare’s Globe left me thinking long after I left the theater.
What tied these trips together was not just the sights themselves, but the independence they demanded of me. Driving in Ireland was one of the most daunting challenges I faced all summer. The idea of sitting on the opposite side of the car, navigating roundabouts, and steering down impossibly narrow country roads filled me with dread. Yet I did it anyway, white-knuckled at first, then gradually more at ease. By the end, the very roads I once feared became the ones that led me to some of the most beautiful views of my trip: quiet stretches of coastline, castle ruins tucked into the hills, and villages I would never have reached otherwise. Conquering that fear became as meaningful as the destinations themselves, a reminder that growth often comes when we step directly into discomfort.
What I will remember most, however, are the people. In my lab, ideas flowed as easily over coffee as they did during experiments, and some of the most important problem-solving happened in those informal settings. That sense of openness carried into the city, where I joined salsa and bachata classes, learned Brazilian forró at a university festival, and found myself welcomed into a community that thrived on music, food, and shared stories. The Irish language has a word for this kind of connection and joy: craic. I saw it everywhere, even in the names of pubs across town, and I felt it in nearly every part of my summer—from late-night conversations with colleagues to the simple act of wandering Cork’s side streets on a rainy afternoon.
Arpita visits the world-famous Globe Theater
Looking back, my BRAVO! summer taught me as much about resilience and collaboration as it did about solvents and simulations. The lessons I take with me are not only technical, but deeply human: that community fuels discovery, that culture shapes how we see our work, and that joy has a place even in the most rigorous pursuit of science. For that, and for the craic that made Ireland feel like home, I am profoundly grateful.