University of Groningen
Self-replicators from dynamic molecular networks: selection, competition and subsystem
coupling
Komáromy, Dávid
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Publication date:
2019
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Komáromy, D. (2019). Self-replicators from dynamic molecular networks: selection, competition and
subsystem coupling. University of Groningen.
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Acknowledgements
248
Acknowledgements
First of all, I would like to thank my privileges that enabled me to write my thesis. Being an abled, heterosexual white man definitely made me easier to focus on my research instead of having to worry about my health, bad economic situation or harassment.
I would like to thank Sijbren Otto for giving me the opportunity (twice in a row) to pursue research in systems chemistry. Thank you Sijbren, for letting me doing research in my own pace, for letting me abandon my original research project and allowing me to pick up new ones. Thank you for being kind and patient with me and for paying attention also to my mental state (better than I did).
I am deeply grateful to Prof. Syuzanna Harutyunyan for being my co-promotor and for my future reading committee for reading and evaluating my thesis.
Among my colleagues, I first would like to thank Monique Smith for maintaining the analytical facilities, which most of my work relied on. Thank you, Monique, for always helping me with LC instruments (even in cases when I was very impatient and pushy and even when you had ridiculous amount of other work to do), without which carrying out my whole PhD work would have not been possible.
In the same manner I would like to thank Theodora Tiemersma, for teaching me and working with me on mass spec. It was a pleasant experience and I learnt a lot from you; and you made an indispensable contribution on tandem mass spec of replicators and daisy chains, leading to finally a very nice part of tis thesis. Thank you!
Annette, I am deeply grateful for helping me out with all kind of administrative issues all along my PhD track (even when I was too lazy or forgetful to pay attention to these issues) and for always having a kind word for me and for all others. You really contributed for feeling myself in a safe and comfortable working environment
Among my fellow group members, at first place I would like to thank Gaël Schaeffer, for so many diverse issues: for always showing up and encouraging me with kind words and useful suggestions; for not letting me down; for showing me how to lend a helping hand to someone; and in general, for being merry and hopeful basically all the time. You really made me a better person during the years we spent together.
The same goes for Andreas Hussain. Andreas, I would like to thank you for being willing to talk with me in German; for the numerous discussions including politics, your views about work and family; and not least for asking me to join your amazing project about positive feedback loops. It was a fantastic experience, one of those I have always wished myself since being a researcher.
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249
Meniz, I would like to thank you for the numerous electron microscopy measurements you made for me; and perhaps even more importantly, for our (not always bright and cheerful) discussions about the present state of Turkish and Hungarian society. I wish you all the best, in the future!
Ivana, I would like to thank you for the numerous AFM measurements we did together; but mainly for showing me that being Eastern European is sometimes so funny (and not something shameful as I felt previously).
Babis, I am grateful for allowing me to join your project and for the many (sometimes perhaps a bit too lengthy) discussions about foldamers, about mass spec and the difficulties of analytical chemistry in general. I wish you a bright career in academia and many bright ideas and exciting discoveries.
Jim, I would like to thank you for being amazingly nice and patient, not only to me but to almost everyone around you; for showing me how to care for others and for yourself; andfor proofreading and thoroughly correcting the samenvatting of this thesis!.
Piotr, I learnt a lot from you while writing our joint book chapter together and I hope you will have a lot of fun, be it with bitcoin, DNA, electric cars or anything else.
Bartek, I was always amazed by your extreme talent and by your clear and logical thinking. I am grateful for your suggestions and for sharing not only science-related thoughts but also your personal concerns and doubts. I am sure that a bright academic future is awaiting you and I am eagerly waiting for your scientific accomplishments in the coming years.
Bin, I would like to thank you for your great help with NMR and with flash chromatography; and thanks that you trusted me so much to share your views on our research environment.
Guille, it was a pleasure to know such an interesting and multi-faceted person as you are; for the many-many measurements we did and discussed together; for introducing me to how to use AFM; for listening to me when I was depressed; and for sharing your stories; I hope one day you will draw the comic you were talking about and it will be amazing😊.
Pim, I would like to thank your contribution with the molecular dynamics simulations.
I would like to thank all the students I was offered the opportunity to supervise during my PhD: David, Anke, Jasper and Diego. I would like to thank you all for taking up sometimes risky projects and for tolerating my often difficult personality. Diego, I would particularly like to thank you for working on the project that constitutes one of my thesis chapters. Without your work I would have definitely not been able to finish this project.
I am extremely thankful to Johan Kemmink and Pieter van der Meulen, for their efforts to elucidate the structure of my serendipitously found daisy chains with NMR; for Friso Aalbers for his countless (and finally successful) trials with SDS-PAGE on the same compound; Giuseppe Portale for SAXS
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measurements of the novel mixed replicators; and Viktor V. Krasnikov for fluorescence microscopy measurements.
I am deeply thankful to Kevin Pagel (FHI Berlin), first for all for the indispensable knowledge he gave me about ion mobility, IR and mass spec during my masters; and for allowing me to spend a few days in his research group to perform gas-phase measurements on foldamers. I would like to thank Rayoon Chang, Waldemar Hoffmann and Christian Manz for their work and for the intriguing and exciting discussions related to this piece of research.
I would definitely not have survived these years without the thousand emotionally deeply charged moments spent with my friends (or perhaps I could have done it alive but it would have definitely not been worth of it): first and foremost for my best friends Yoyo, Szálasi Ferenc and Lilja; the niga rt crew, alias Komacita, Kenyó, Róza, Wajdus; and countless others (I hope I don’t forget anyone): Lórimalac, Edinamalac, malacmalac(†), Locni, Hermelin, Fricike, Tetthelyrobi, ANRA, Csodaflóra, Klári, Marcsi, Zita, Attila, Alexandra, Samu, Andi, aranyos Hornák úr, Bebó, Soma, Mia, Dodi, Noi, Márti, Stiina, Owen, Martina, Ling, Ketásdini, Ben, Loren, Mariann, Kirba (also for the cover design), Juhász, Dodi, Nefelejcs; Nasrat, Avi, Niki and all the great people I worked with in Migration Aid; Astrid, Martin, Fred, Siobhan, Martin, Tarek, Erik and all the amazing volunteers I met on Lesbos; Erdős, Miki, Danka, Carmen, Epermari, Tekla, Limóbároslaci, Patakilili, Kriszta, Doró, Dini, Tót, Pólika, Gondor, Lili, Barbi, Xénia, Danó, Bálint, Éva, Fanni, Julcsi, Afi(†), Irina, Karolina; that guy from Jogja who told us about the walking dead and promised to bring us some extra sweet mangos and magic mushrooms but forgot about it completely; Astrid, Cinti, Kama, TinezDoll, Viki, Olga, Bea, Ewa&Birb, Heni, Fancsi, FarquharAnna, MajdnemSári, Larion, Zizi, Blanka, Dóri, vonalkazottfeju-lapiposzata, Kléri, Jankó, Móni, Jakab, Csilla, Tímea, Julio, Derrick, Woonna, Djördj, Évi, Dávidka, Csermarcsi, Hermina, zsuzsiszusz and I will definitely stop before my mind explodes. Thanks for you all.
Finally, I would like to thank you Momó, for the extreme luck that I know you and for all that I learnt from and experienced with you.
