My final year at TAPAS

After three years in the TAPAS project, I can really say that it was a privilege to meet such talented people and saying thanks for the wonderful opportunities is just not enough, but thank you.

Now that I'm writing my thesis, I can take a look back at so many thing I tell you about my experience. Only at the end, I realize that the purpose of the PhD was to offer you the possibility to learn how to use the tools that will make you grow as a professional. Of course, in many occasions I felt overwhelm and frustrated, because is really easy to think that you are not getting anywhere. In this regard, I can only say that it was the guidance of my supervisors (which already went trough all that) and talking to my colleagues (which are most likely going through the same) the things that make it get up and continue.

Being part of TAPAS, assisting to conferences (and making new contacts), and learning state-of-the-art techniques really boost your skills as a researcher and I must say it also gave me more confidence about the things I did during my PhD. This is also in part thank to TAPAS, the training events, and being part of a network that not only include academic but also industry partners really help me to prepare to the life after the PhD. In this regard, I think the training event that I remember the most was TE1 in Philipps (Netherlands). It caused a big impression on me to see how big the network was. I wish more programs like TAPAS exist, being part of such a network really makes a huge difference!

I'm excited for what the future brings and even though I'm starting a new job as a post-doc in Germany, I'm not planing on losing contact with the people I met on TAPAS!.

Thank you very much for everything and I hope to see you in the future!