Author: Sergio Leiva

Posted on 2025-02-042025-02-07 by Sergio Leiva

Not Ready for Goodbye, But Here We Go

I had in mind writing a very happy and cheerful post based on the last few trips and successes in the research. However, as I read the previous post to feel the vibe of the blog, I realized that the last few are related to “the last blog post.” It took me a while to accept that the end has become more real than ever. I have never been good at goodbyes; somehow, it always feels like I didn’t say enough, while at the same time, I said too much and couldn’t enjoy the last words and silence. So, I’ve decided to start with that and deal with the regret later.

Thanks to everyone in SPEAR, every speaker, every training organizer, and every person I met during the secondments. Thanks to the PIs, thanks to Ingrid and Annika, thanks to Ismael and the group in Halle, and thanks to every ESR; I will always remember you and miss you all!! And to the one who made the project work, Eli, thank you very much!

Now that the PhD time is coming to an end, more and more goodbyes are coming. Either because some people already left or because I might be going somewhere else. Before Christmas, I had what could be “the last group photo” with the first group of friends I made during the PhD. It was mixed with joy from seeing them and sadness since we might not be together anymore. Time definitely runs faster when you have fun!. Luckily, we immortalized the moment with an instant photo for each one so that we were together even with countries in between.

One thing I know for sure is that it has been a crazy ride. Whenever I start telling the stories I got from the PhD, it always feels impossible or made up. Stories of conferences in crazy places, of the knee surgery, of the parties, of going from a struggle to the celebrations, it does not make sense that everything happened in 3 years. How is it possible to have so much fun, meet so many amazing people, and experience so much of the world in just three years? Three!! This must be some kind of magic.

Anyhow, we have at least one more goodbye, and for once, I am really looking forward to meeting again in San Sebastian!. Prost to SPEAR, Halle, and all of you.

Posted on 2024-06-122024-06-13 by Sergio Leiva

The aftermath of traveling

The best summary of the last eight months would be my love-hate relationship with my luggage. Since every few weeks, I had to go somewhere new, I always had to have it at hand. This was a daily reminder that I was leaving in a few days, meaning hours by train or on a plane, managing tickets, eating on the road, and the worst, more goodbyes. But it was also a reminder that a new chapter was coming: new people, new places, and new adventures. Between three secondments, conferences, vacations with friends, and short visits to Halle, I felt I was always arriving or about to leave. Therefore, I feel blessed by science to have managed to meet the most amazing groups of people.

A very unexpected part of the secondment was the eye-opening time at SIMUNE. This industrial secondment completely changed my perception of what it means to work for a company. The team welcomed me in a very natural process and gave me the tools and time to learn the basics of their project. We were able to finish the secondment with a working feature on their code, which, aside from the feeling of success, showed me the complete process of implementing new features into an existing code. From reading to writing documentation and reviewing good coding practices, my coding is now at a whole new level. I discovered the fun and excitement of going from the planning to the final product with a user-oriented goal, which comes with challenges that an academic paper will never see. The biggest surprise was the day-to-day working process, which included a lot of teamwork to solve minor problems quickly, daily update meetings, and weekly demo presentations. This showed me a whole new strategy to work on a project. On top of that, the connections we built through teamwork, problem-solving, and commenting on small stuff during the short but lovely coffee breaks are something that helped me work confidently.

Of course, all of these fun and productive times were alongside the recovery from the knee surgery a few months before going to Spain. This process was particularly eased by the beautiful beach in Donosti, the location of my first two secondments. Swimming in “La Concha” and “Ondarreta” was the best I could have done to train my leg muscles. Now I am fully recovered, even though I still need a few more sessions of physiotherapy, I can finally enjoy long bike rides and, who knows, maybe a run every now and then.

Not everything during the secondments was about working in SIMUNE, nor drinking and eating delicious local products in Donosti and Grenoble. I was also trained in various sample production techniques and benefited from incredible discussions, where I now understand my calculations from a whole new perspective from an experimental point of view. We also got two very interesting ideas for collaborating with the theoretical group at Spintec.

As always, I cannot be happier with how the project is going and cannot wait to see how my life is going for my next blog post. Prost, Salud, and Santé to Halle, Donosti, Grenoble, and the SPEAR program!!

Posted on 2023-09-252023-11-09 by Sergio Leiva

From Recovery to Research

A few months over half of the Ph.D., I have come across many realizations. The vast amount of experiences I have accumulated, both in physics with excellent and profitable discussions in conferences and the SPEAR training sessions, as well as personally, with more and stronger friendships that would last year after the end of the Ph.D. I have been contemplating this more and more since returning from Chile for the Holidays. However, I am always amazed by the small daily changes that have transformed me into who I am today.

However, only some things can be good news. By the end of the summer, I had an accident requiring knee surgery. The process was complicated and tedious, from figuring out how the German health system works (kudos, by the way) to internalizing that I would be out of the office for at least two months. Here is where the solid friendships and interpersonal relationships saved the day. No surgery comes without fears, doubts, and loneliness, usually overcome by love and care from family and old friends. For me, this time, between friends, colleagues, and roommates, there was barely any time left to be afraid, worried, or even scared. Of course, I still had the essential and long video calls with my family and friends from Chile that kept me in shape. I don’t have the words to express how much I love every single one of you. Everyone will forever have a special place in my heart!

Luckily, the two months of recovery, with physiotherapy and training, went by without complications. I couldn’t have asked for the timing to be better. I was walking again just two weeks before I started my first secondment at Nanogune. I can’t think of a better place to return to work: an excellent lab in Spain (where I can speak my mother tongue), by the beach at the middle to end of summer. Nanogune welcomed me with open arms and such wonderful, insightful, and friendly people that it is hard to find anything to complain about. I may need to come back sooner than expected.

All in all, the 3rd 6-months period has been so remarkable that even a knee surgery feels like less than a typo in an otherwise perfect storybook of a Ph.D. Prost and see you all in Halle!

Posted on 2023-02-102023-02-14 by Sergio Leiva

The Journey of Homecoming: Reflections on a Chilean Vacation

More than a year of the Ph.D. passed so quickly that I barely believe the first year is already over. This first year has been full of exciting adventures and amazing new friends. Initially, this post would have been a sum-up of my first year, both adventures and successes. But, with the first draft, I realized I was not going to do justice to all the great things that happened this year and to include the biggest realization I had this year. Therefore I decided to focus on my vacations in Chile.

I stayed in Santiago for a few days to meet many friends, and the feeling of closeness had not disappeared with any of them. Moreover, with a group of friends with whom I gather daily to play online games and chat. Now that we were in the same city again, since most of us left the country after the pandemic, we had a wonderful barbeque just in time to see the Word cup final and celebrate for our neighbors! After this, it was time to go to my hometown with my mom and sisters. Over there, I met my dad, and the crying came back with no less intensity. I will never forget the long hug and the feeling of finally being home. Here we stayed a few days before continuing the trip even souther to see my brother in Llanquihue. This meeting was the most emotional since it was the very first time all six of us were together to spend New Year’s as a family since I left, and most probably, the last time until the end of my Ph.D. We spent the most relaxing weeks in Llanquihue, enjoying the lake, mountains, and weather of the south of Chile. Thereon, the goodbyes were in order, so undoing the route back to Santiago, I saw most of my friends and family members. When I went to take the flight, I realized that my heart was full of love (and food), so I started missing my family as soon as I had to say the final goodbye at the airport door.

Upon arriving in Halle, I had the strangest feeling since, from the minute I was out of the train station, I felt at home again. The last year and a half showed me that home is not a place, but the people with whom I feel at home. I am forever thankful to SPEAR since it taught me not only physics but also how to enjoy living abroad and the importance of good friends and colleagues.

Silly me, thinking that a Ph.D. was only to learn about science. Here I am, with tears again, prost to Halle and the SPEAR program!!.

Posted on 2022-05-012022-09-02 by Sergio Leiva

Halle

It has been more than five months since I arrived in Halle. The time here defies any logic since every day is full of experiences, and I could say that I have been in Halle for over a year. But on the other hand, as we progress with the research and the constantly increasing learning curve, I could also say that I have been here less than a month. These very active first few months couldn’t have been possible without the beautiful vibe of Halle. A place where one can have an excellent week of work and a peaceful weekend at the park, perfect to start a whole new week full of new things to do and stories to write.

Last month we had the first training session with almost every ESR, and it was incredible. Having the opportunity to share ideas and different perspectives about the topics and previous works is something I really think will make a difference in the program. The ethics and physics training sessions were incredibly useful and well presented. Besides, we had many interesting discussions arising from them, which I think might eventually result in very interesting collaborations. On top of everything, the city is beautiful, with many things to do and see, so combined with a perfect organization of the time and schedule, I was very impressed. Moreover, since I have to do my secondment in Grenoble, I cannot wait to come back and spend more time there, and I am looking forward to the next training session in Leuven!.

Before the trip to Grenoble, I started to study the orbital effect in a bilayer system with Rashba interaction. This project started as a practice of what I had learned in the first four months of my Ph.D. But once we saw the promising results, we were very excited about the model and the rich physics that we can extract from the calculations. At the moment, we are incorporating extensions that can be applied to this simple model so it can be more realistic. Luckily, in a few months, we will host the secondment of ESR1 (Eoin), and the timing will be perfect for us to discuss our simulations with their experiments and start a theoretical-experimental collaboration.

All and all, I think I couldn’t have asked for more or a better environment. Prost to Halle and the SPEAR program!!.