Thanks to the Santander International Exchange Bursary I could spend 3 weeks in Barcelona under the supervision of Prof. Ignacio Pagonabarraga at the Universitat de Barcelona.

Las Ramblas, Barcelona

My trip begun on the Monday 25th of January and ended on the 12th of February. During this time I was able to discuss with Prof. Pagonabarraga many interesting physical aspects to be included in my PhD. After a first week in which we mostly reviewed the work that I had done and we attempted to improve our understanding of the model and simulations of systems of nanoparticles and diblock copolymer, we were able to move forward to consider new physical properties to be studied. It was particularly interesting to possibility to make the colloids to be active brownian particles.

This visit to Barcelona also allowed me to meet other PhD students working under Prof. Pagonabarraga’s supervision. During my last week I could even attend the public presentation for the completion of the PhD of Dr Francisco Alarcón. Sharing the views of other PhD students at different stages of their studies was a highly valuable experience, both in a purely Physics-related and in a more practical and personal point of view.

Sagrada Familia

The campus and the accommodation was situated in the Les Corts, just 5 minutes away from FC Barcelona stadium Camp Nou. And although it is relatively far away from the city centre, Barcelona is a really well connected city and its weather and size make it a very easy city to walk around. I was able to visit a few of the many famous places in Barcelona such as  La Sagrada Famila, Las Ramblas and the Cathedral.

In summary, it has been a great experience that allows me to have many new directions for my PhD .