Lianet Méndez-Monsanto, PhD Student at Universidad Carlos III de Madrid, stayed at Lund University as visiting scholar during the ELLIIT Focus Period on 6G. She was aked to reflect on the period.
ELLIIT Focus Period Visiting Scholar Lianet Méndez-Monsanto from Spain.
What was good about your stay as a visiting scholar?
Everything was very good during the stay. First of all, I learned and was surrounded by people who were experts in different fields, from whom I learned a lot. It was an honor to meet people from the Department of Electrical and Information Engineering in Lund who shared their research with us and showed us their great facilities. It was great to share daily work and conversations with people with experience in different fields. Not only did I learn academically, but we also created close bonds between the school visitors by sharing daily life and working together. I think this is very important because the Focus Period experience is not limited to the two weeks I was there, but will have an impact on the rest of my professional life.
How would you describe your stay to someone who is not familiar with the concept?
I would describe it as a working stay or visit in which groups of people working in different fields come together for a period of time to focus on solving specific projects or problems, under the supervision of some of the most prestigious researchers in the field. I would like to emphasize that the objective is not only to work during these weeks, which can be short, but to create professional links to extend the work in the long term and facilitate collaboration. A great opportunity to meet people and establish contacts in our sector, in a very good environment and in a very prestigious university like Lund University.
Can you mention a few things that you take with you to your future research or research environment?
From a professional point of view, I take with me ways of looking at problems from different perspectives, and ideas and tools that I have learned to use thanks to my colleagues and supervisors from the Focus Period. I also take with me very good feedback from my research, thanks to the fact that we were able to share it through seminars with everyone there. And, most importantly, I take with me colleagues with whom I have shared and learned, and with whom I have no doubt we will keep in touch. I take with me a fantastic impression of Lund University, which I would definitely like to visit again.
How did you experience the symposium?
The truth is that the symposium was wonderful. It was one of the best I have ever been to because it brought together the best researchers in the field, with very inspiring and interesting talks. Not only were we able to listen to the talks, but the fact that we were able to share our work with posters and show our research to the more experienced researchers was a great opportunity to get very valuable feedback.