The summer has passed, and the leaves have turned orange; some have even started to fall. For me, this marks the end of my PhD’s (net)work. Since July, I’ve been on the move with business trips, conference presentations, and, of course, a bit of the usual summer vacation. It’s been a packed few months with a lot of great memories. I got to present my work, win an art contest at the ICM conference in Italy with the image below, and even got officially engaged (long story here) in Rome!
During my secondment, I spent time in the beautiful city of San Sebastián, where I enjoyed pintxos, the beach, and the beautiful hikes. In the middle of all this, I also organized a retreat for the International Max Planck Research School (IMPRS), which I am part of at the Max Planck Institute in Germany. Much of the inspiration for planning this retreat came from my experience at a summer school organized by ESR 3, Marco, back in 2022 in Lausanne, Switzerland. That summer school remains the best conference/school I’ve ever attended—it truly influenced my research interests and shaped the direction of my PhD. Below is a picture of one of the round tables from our retreat, inspired by the ones in Marco’s school. Here, I’m discussing creativity in science with Dr. Stuart Parkin (the mind behind racetrack memory, a core concept in my SPEAR project), Dr. Hyunsoo Yang, and Dr. Amir Capua.
In between all these trips, there was still plenty of work to do. I wrote my final PhD paper, which I’m currently in the process of submitting. This work has been a long time in the making and will be the core of my PhD thesis. With this final paper, I finally managed to bridge my research on skyrmions with neuroscience. It’s taken everything I’ve learned from my previous papers to understand the conditions that can make a skyrmion truly behave like an artificial neuron—something I’ve been pursuing for a long time.
Now, as I reach the end of my time with the SPEAR network project, I can’t help but feel like I’m closing one of the most meaningful and exciting chapters of my life. I have to give a special thanks to the person who helped make this project a success: our coordinator, Eli. Beyond her patience with my delayed reports (sorry, Eli!), she’s just an incredible person who has been a true pillar in this journey. I also want to thank Sofia for her role in our soft skills training. Her empathy and kindness in working with a bunch of skeptical physicists was something to admire, and I genuinely believe her guidance has made me a better presenter and scientist.
Finally, a big thank you to all the ESRs! It was a joy getting to know each of you, and I wish you all the best in your future endeavors. This project aimed to build a network of researchers, and I have to admit that I initially underestimated the power of networking in science. But looking back on my PhD journey, I can see the impact clearly. The connections and exchanges I was exposed to through the SPEAR project have shaped my research, my future, and who I am. Simply put, thank you all!
