It’s Postdoc Appreciation Week!
This week the global scientific community celebrates the Postdoc Appreciation Week (PAW) which was started in 2009 in the US by the National Postdoctoral Association to recognize the significant contributions postdocs and researchers make towards research and academic life in general. The PAW is also widely celebrated in the UK and Ireland and since 2022 also in Germany. The Research and Innovation Services of the Leibniz University of Hannover (LUH) teamed up with the Munich Postdoc Network (particularly Helmholtz Munich and the Max Planck Institute of Biochemistry) to establish this initiative in Germany. This year the PAW Germany coordination team invited researchers and research institutions, postdoc coordinators and research administrators all over Germany to join in creating a special program, events and a social media campaign to honor the incredible work of postdocs!
ML4Q took the chance to feature and recognize the impressive achievements of postdocs who are associated to the cluster. During the week, single postdocs and their profiles will be published on the cluster’s blog ML4Q Stories. Today we invite you to meet Dr. Andrea Nava, postdoc in the research group of Prof. Reinhold Egger from the Institute for Theoretical Physics IV at Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf.
Andrea, how would you describe your career path leading to your current position?
I started my journey in Cosenza, in the south of Italy, working on quasi one-dimensional systems in presence of disorder and interaction, then moved to Sissa in Trieste to explore the topic of high temperature superconductivity and relaxation dynamics of spin models. Finally, I landed in Düsseldorf at the beginning of 2023.
What are you currently working on and what other research areas would you like to discover?
Actually, I’m working on Majorana edge states in superconducting islands, dynamical phase transitions induced by perturbations and relaxation processes and the effect of disorder in topological systems.
Do you have a favorite scientist?
Edward, the main character of “Evolution Man”, by Roy Lewis. He embodies the principles of science and its role in society.
Name a discovery you wished you were part of!
The discovery of superconductivity: when quantum mechanics was observed on a truly macroscopic scale!
What is your most enjoyable thing about being a PostDoc in academia?
The possibility to learn new topics, discuss with people and never be stuck in a monotonous work.
And what is the most tedious thing about being a PostDoc in academia?
Waiting for referee’s replies, for months.