Blog

Lack of sun: an unmentioned term of my contract

Being born and raised in a country like Greece, sun is part of your everyday life from the time that you wake up until the sunset. What can be better than a warm or cold coffee next to the sea during a sunny day? Everything seemed and are different in the eye of sun. I would say that you are ...

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Metallurgy tour in southern Poland

From the 9th to 12th October 2017, I participated in a very interesting “Technology tour” of southern Poland, organized by Prometia. PROMETIA is an international non-profit association, which promotes innovation and collaboration in mineral processing and extractive metallurgy for mining and recycling of raw materials. Its member organizations consist of industries, small and medium-sized enterprises, research institutes and number of ...

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I am living in Freiberg, not in Freiburg!

– A: Hey! I am living now in Freiberg – B: Ohhh, you are living in the sunny city of Freiburg, so close to France and Switzerland! – A: No, no, I am living in Freiberg, with “e”. – B: Aaahh, so, where is Freiberg? I cannot remember how many times I have had this funny conversation. Therefore, I feel ...

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How to manage a healthy PhD life?

Though doing research as a PhD student is often fun, exciting and enjoyable, it can sometimes get very stressful. Especially when deadlines are on your neck. If you ask a PhD student how long does he/she work in a week, the answer may vary from about 40hrs to 60hrs. Most of their days will be spent either tied to their ...

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The cocktail bar statistical analysis

Dear readers! I would like to describe some of the concepts of my everyday work by comparing it with a well known social activity: going to a cocktail bar! First of all, me remind you what my job is. I am a theoretical chemist, also called computational chemist, or nerd, and my work is to simulate chemical systems, just with ...

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How can an industrial experience boost your PhD?

For most PhD applications, a relevant industrial experience is considered a plus in the CV. However, the career shift from the industry back to the academia often comes with transitional challenges. This leads PhD-newbies, like myself, into asking: “Which aspects of an industrial experience can come in handy while easing this transition?” With more than two years of professional experience ...

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SOCRATES: a multicultural project

«Θα ήθελα μια μπύρα, παρακαλώ!», «Can I have a beer please?», «Puedo tomar una cerveza?» «muje ek beer chahiye?», «Één pintje alstublieft?», «Bir bira lütfen?», «Minä haluaisin yksi olut?», «Одно пиво пожалуйста?», «Potrei avere una birra?». Imagine hearing the same phrase in different languages from different people sitting at a big table in a pub at Pori, Finland. Wondering how ...

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So, you decided to do a PhD…

First of all, CONGRATULATIONS on your decision! Despite knowing that it may be a painful journey, you accepted the challenge to get this ‘Dr.’ in front of your name. You start enthusiast and motivated, knowing that you are going to work on your field of interest nurturing your little baby, the thesis. Exciting! But seriously, have you ever asked a ...

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Brief history of Electrochemistry

Edison and Tesla, I bet you all have heard of these brilliant scientists and inventors, famous for their contributions to the field of electrochemistry. This article is not an attribution to them, but to all scientists who played a role in the development of electrochemistry as we know it. I would like to start way back in time, when in ...

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How dirty are you?

Green chemistry can be considered in general terms as the ‘domestic economy’ of chemistry. We, desperate housewifes of the lab, care at not to elicit too much disorder into our lab to get things done. This can be done in various ways as reducing usage of chemicals to the bare necessity and picking the less harmful path, to both environment and ...

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