Tag: Secondment

Posted on 2023-11-032023-11-03 by Niklas Kercher

My Second Secondment Journey: Back to the Roots

The transition from my home university in Zurich to my 10 weeks secondment at CIC nanoGUNE began with a long train journey on the TGV from Zurich to Hendaye, with a stopover in Paris. The next morning, I was warmly welcomed by the nanodevices group. Many faces were recognizable from my previous visit two years ago, yet, as is often the case, there was a noticeable turnover as well. In addition to scientific discussions, many members of the group shared their insights into local life. The food recommendations, especially the cheesecake, were much appreciated.

During my stay, I took the opportunity to explore Donostia and the surrounding areas, including a visit to Vitoria-Gasteiz. This city, known for its well-preserved medieval architecture, provided a pleasant escape and a chance to experience the local culture.

View of La Concha beach, situated on the Donostia coastline, and fireworks displayed during Semana Grande.

My academic journey took me to several places. The first was the European School on Magnetism (ESM) in Miraflores de la Sierra, where I met many new people in the field and learned a lot about the basics of magnetism, simulation, and characterisation techniques. As I had to travel via Madrid, I used the weekend to explore the city and meet members of the Zurich group and other ESRs who were in town for the JEMS conference.

Mixed impressions from Madrid and Segovia.

Later I went to Halle for the ESR training, where we covered the basics of topology and also had a soft skills session. A memorable part of this trip was when my train from Paris was cancelled, causing a 3-hour delay that would have left me stranded in Erfurt for the night. Fortunately, Deutsche Bahn arranged a taxi for the last 100 km, turning my trip into a 19-hour adventure.

Now that my time at nanoGUNE is coming to an end, with my departure scheduled for Thursday the 19th, I am preparing to say goodbye to the new friends and colleagues I have made here. As a thank you for their help and support, I plan to bake a Basque cheesecake for everyone. The thought of returning to Zurich brings a mixture of emotions. I am looking forward to continuing my research at my home university, but I will certainly miss the people and experiences I had during this secondment.

My attempts to bake a fluffy Basque cheesecake with flavours of caramelised sugar and vanilla.

The trip was full of learning, both academically and culturally. Additionally, the secondment reminded me of the beginnings of my PhD, as it was here that I received an introduction to the finesse of glovebox stacking. I have gained a deeper understanding of my area of research, particularly in flake formation and transport measurements. The many interactions, both formal and informal, have enriched my PhD experience, and I am eager to apply the new knowledge and skills as I continue my research back in Zurich.

Posted on 2023-02-222023-03-01 by Mayank Sharma

Secondment

The new year started with my academic secondment at ETH. Had a chance to catch up with Marco (ESR3) before he left for his secondment in Grenoble. While Niklas (ESR4) has been constantly there to help me with the institutional and lab stuff. I also had an opportunity to meet my industrial secondment supervisor Dr. Jan Rhensius from QZabre. Zhewen (ESR13) is also around to show me nice trails just behind the ETH Hönggerberg campus.

How can I forget watches, probably the strongest attraction that always pulled me towards Switzerland. Zurich is one good place to see watches thanks to the famous bahnhofstrasse, one whole street full of watch boutiques is no less than a watch paradise. Every week I go to the street to update myself with the new watches on display but still feels like I haven’t seen it enough. Apparently there is a watch museum here which I haven’t managed to see but planning to see soon, never the less I did visit the Lindt chocolate museum. I would recommend to take the guided tour, it’s a fun experience to eat free chocolate like kids.

World’s largest free standing chocolate fountain at the museum

Posted on 2021-11-032021-11-04 by Niklas Kercher

Getting connected

In the last two weeks, thanks to an early part secondment, I had the opportunity to get to know many different preparation and exfoliation possibilities at CIC nanoGUNE. Besides the many scientific experiences, I came into contact with many friendly and helpful scientists and was able to enjoy the time there, also because of the good weather. Besides Marco, who works with me in Zurich, I also got to know two other ESRs personally here, Mayank and Eoin. Fortunately, my time in San Sebastián/Donostia coincided exactly with a statistically significant accumulation of birthdays, so I got to enjoy freshly baked cake at work surprisingly often.

The view over one of the beaches of San Sebastián/Donostia towards the city center.

I spent most of my time at the glove box exfoliating various non-stable materials and building stacks with the stamping system. In the picture you can see the transfer process, where the flakes are transferred to a substrate using polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS). With this technique, precisely aligned complex hetero structures can be produced successively.

Stamping process mid stamping. The exfoliated flakes are on the PDMS which is on the bottom side of the glass slide.

Back in Zurich, I will continue the exfoliation of van-der-Waals crystals of different materials. The new knowledge I gained at CIC nanoGUNE and especially the personal tips on the exfoliation for specific materials will help me to fabricate different types of samples in the near future, either in a controlled environment or under ambient conditions.

Finally, I can only thank you for the wonderful time and send my greetings to Spain.