As a bookish child I always felt attuned to intellectual and scientific pursuits. Due to this, I always envisioned myself knee deep in some subject or other, no doubt inspired by some of the “mad” scientists in my books.
At school I did well in a broad range of subjects, however I paid particular attention to maths, participating in some competitions along the way and earning encouragement from my teachers. This helped me feel less intimidated by famously “harder” topics, even as STEM courses got tougher.
As I grew up, the topics I saw myself working on after university shifted several times, passing though Astronomy, Computer Science, Engineering and Chemistry. Towards the end of my High School years, I was pretty set on studying Chemistry, but wasn’t really enjoying the classes I was attending on that subject. I turned once again to my books and ended up reading on “The Science behind...” a fantasy series. This introduced me to basic concepts of Quantum Mechanics and Dark Matter. I didn’t know it yet, but I had decided to be a Physicist.
As the time to begin my Undergraduate studies neared, I was still somewhat set on doing Chemistry. My problem was that, being from a small city in a small country, I was completely oblivious to the fact that people (even in my country!) did Physics research on these exciting topics for a living. Everything changed when I heard about the Faculty of Sciences of my country’s main university, where I completed my Bachelor’s degree in Physics. Suddenly I felt I had found the place I was meant to go to.
The degree experience wasn’t smooth sailing, but with determination I pushed through and graduated. Towards the end of my studies, I was facing a decision as to what area of Physics to continue pursuing and, knowing very little about the possibilities of the subject, I signed up for a Quantum Field Theory course. Soon after, I was hooked on Particle Physics and asked the lecturer to mentor me through my final project. She introduced me to Quantum Chromodynamics, and alongside one of her collaborators, I started learning about the intricacies of proton collisions, which continued to be my focus throughout my Master’s degree.
The work I found myself doing was beyond what younger me ever imagined. It also opened the door for opportunities I had never dared to dream of, such as an internship at CERN, and getting into my current PhD course at the University of Liverpool.
My current project focuses on the possibilities of applying Quantum Computing to simulations of neutrino-nucleus interactions. As these quantum interactions are highly complex, the hope is that a computer built from quantum components will help us better understand their dynamics.
Besides the opportunity of living in a new country and diving into a new research area, my aim is for the PhD allow me to seize further opportunities, such as teaching new generations of physicists and travelling to research institutions such as Fermilab.