Posted in April 2011
April 12, 1961
the date of the first manned space flight. When I was a kid, news about advances in space research came about almost every month: that created an athmosphere of a development, adventure, and a hope for more interesting and content-rich adventures. And my kids read about majour advances of international terrorism, and spectacular school shootings…
What can we do to keep the dream and hope alive?
Any suggestions?
David Marcos
has received his Ph. D. title yesterday in Materials Science Institue in Madrid, Ramon Aguado being his supervisor. The thesis of David is almost unimaginable in our time: it consists of experimental and theoretical work, and covers topics that, although all belong to quantum transport, are so various as being more suitable for a life-time cv rather than for a phd thesis bundle. Generous Spanish Ph.D. fellowships allow this in principle: a student may be finaced to stay in a research group abroad for up to 3 month every year. However, from people I know only David Marcos managed to produce a research publication during each stay.
He had to measure C12/C13 carbon nanotubes in Harvard, compute tiny shifts of flux-qubit levels in Delft, putting diamonds (theoretically) into a flux loop in Copenhagen, and get cemented by full counting statistics in Berlin, all that with sucsess. Perhaps, David, you could go a bit deeper in each of these subjects. Nevertheless you kind of give an example of broadness and overview a modern student can achieve if he/she only wants to.
It was a pleasure to meet some old friends from Madrid and elsewhere and get lunch in a hunting club frequented by King of Spain. David is a first student of Ramon Aguado: congratulations to him as well.