CERN (European Organization for Nuclear Research) is the most respected and one of world’s largest centres for scientific investigation. It’s work is funded by 20 member states, including Portugal. CERN is working in fundamental physics, trying to answer questions like: what is universe made of and how it works. Huge, complex and expensive scientific instruments are used (such as particle accelerators) to unravel the basic matter constituents: the fundamental particles. By studing the particle collisions, scientists can learn about the law of Nature.

Adi (Agência de Inovação, S.A.) is the portuguese entity responsible for the management of the traineeships at CERN, ESA (European Space Agency) and ESO (European Sothern Observatory), three organization of international reputation. Every year, this company of public capital, opens an national contest to select a few candidates to the traineeships on the organization referred, providing a monthly financial support, health and work insurance, annual travel subsidy and an installation subsidy.

Professor Ana Senos from Department of Ceramics and Glass Engineering of University of Aveiro, was sought by CERN, specifically by Dr. Thierry Stora, to fulfil a gap in the materials science area in the ISOLDE (On-Line Isotope Mass Separator), one of the many experiments running at CERN. ISOLDE is a small alchemical factory changing one element to another, as the alchemists once imagined. ISOLDE produces more than 1000 diferent isotopes from 73 chemical elements. For that to happen, a proton beam is diverted from the particle accelerators and is made to hit a target. The product from the resulting nuclear reactions are the isotopes.  It’s on those targets materials investigation and improvement can be made.

I learned about this opportunity from Professor Ana Senos in April 2010. Convinced that I had some chances of getting the traineeship, I tried.

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I have decided to update my website with a new photo in the slider (watch the header, the first photo).

The new photo is referent to the opening of an activity that the Materials Students Association of the Students’ Union of University of Aveiro has organized, in the Auditory of Rectory, at May 14th and 15th 2010: Advanced Course of Biomaterials and Regenerative Medicine.

The activity was attended by 270 participants and 19 Speakers and Trainers.
Generally, in the organization of this activity was the Materials Students Association, the Portuguese Society of Materials, the University of Aveiro and University of Porto.

It was a great event, at every level, that I’m proud for it’s organization. I thank everyone that was involved at the organization of this event. It was a pleasure work with you all. I hope there will be a second edition.

The photography, as I have refereed, was taken at the opening of the event and the photographer was Tiago Holz (college from the Materials Students Association). The people in the photo are, from left to right: the Rector of University of Aveiro, Professor Manuel Assunção, the representative of the Portuguese Society of Materials, Professor Helena Fernandes, and me, João Pedro Ramos, the coordinator of the Materials Students Association. At the opening was Professor Joaquim Vieira, representing the Department of Ceramics and Glass Engineering and Professor Ascensão Lopes representing the University of Porto

Este artigo também está escrito em Português | This article is also written in Portuguese

Some time ago my friend and course colleague, Marco Lopes, informed me that I could have the Windows Vista operating system, absolutely free, because I’m a student at the University of Aveiro (UA).

I confirm what he said and add: not only we have access to Windows Vista as to hundreds of other Microsoft programs available, completely free to UA students through a pre-established agreement between UA and Microsoft (MSDNAA). Also available are the operating systems: Windows 7, XP, Server 2003 and Server 2008 and many other programs such as Office OneNote, Access, Groove, Sharepoint and many more that I don’t even know about.

Here is the link that grants access to all this software if you are a student in UA (you must enter your UA user-name and password):

Click Here

At this moment, I have installed Microsoft Windows 7 Professional 64-bit in Portuguese (PT-PT), completely free.

This software is available to all students in the UA, and not just those from the Department of Electronics, Telecommunications and Informatics (DETI), despite the page saying “Dep. Electrónica – Univ. Aveiro” in portuguese, which means Department of Electronics – University of Aveiro. (I’m proof of that, because I’m a student from the Department of Ceramics and Glass Engineering.)

I thank the UA for the free software and my friend Marco for the information.

It’s for this kind of things, that I’m proud of being an University of Aveiro student!

Este artigo também está escrito em Português | This article is also written in Portuguese