University of Groningen
Design of new aggregates for catalysis
Tosi, Filippo
DOI:
10.33612/diss.107814277
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Publication date: 2019
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Tosi, F. (2019). Design of new aggregates for catalysis. Rijksuniversiteit Groningen. https://doi.org/10.33612/diss.107814277
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149 Acknowledgements
There were moments in which this time never seemed like it would come, but here we are. We finally got to the end of my PhD, which has been a very intense and exciting experience for me, although not easy at times. I find that the acknowledgement section is probably the most difficult to write, but this thesis and my work here these years would not have been possible without the people who helped me achieve it.
First and foremost, Ben. I still remember the first time I walked into your office a bit more than four years ago. I had to write you few times before I got an interview with you for a PhD position and my level of excitement (and anxiety) in that moment was beyond the roof. I was immediately impressed by the amount of energy and passion that you transmitted me while presenting the research of the group and there I realized that I wanted to work with you. These four years have not always been easy, but I am grateful that you could support and encourage me even in the moments in which research took the best of me. Without your pep talks and enthusiasm I would have never managed to write this thesis and perform the work I did, in the way I did it. I appreciate how you pushed me to give talks in conferences and present the beautiful work we did together. This has been a life-changing experience, and for this I am forever grateful.
Dear Sander, my first daily supervisor and later co-promotor. Thank you so much for the feedback on the research and the ideas which eventually lead to the writing of Chapter 3 and 4 in this thesis. Your support during my PhD was essential, especially considering all the feedback that I got on the writing of my chapters and papers. If now I can say that I have improved my writing skills and the way I can present my research is mainly thanks to you. I know that you will do a great job with your own group and I wish you the best for your future academic career.
I would like to thank the reading committee members, prof. Harutyunyan, prof. Otto and prof. de Bruin. I highly appreciate the time and effort you put in to evaluate my work and I am thankful for the comments you gave to improve the manuscript. Dear Marc, I honestly don’t know how I would have managed the self-assembly projects without you. I have probably learned from you the most about research these years. Our very fruitful conversations about research and science in general are something I hold very dear in my heart. Bedankt voor alle hulp en gesprekken in het Nederlands. A special thank needs to go to Tineke and Inge. Your help, especially in the last year made the process of submitting my thesis a lot easier, and I know that you both invested a lot of time taking care of all the necessary matters. Inge, I am sad to see you leave our group, but I am happy that we got to work together and know each other better in the last few months of my PhD. Dankje voor de hulp met het werk en in het algemeen voor onze gesprekken in het Nederlands. Zeker zijn mijn taalvaardigheden beter geworden door de constante oefening met jou :).
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Tineke, I honestly think that if I wrote down all I want to write to thank you I would have to present an apart manuscript. From the first time I met you, your friendly smile and your positive energy, I got the feeling that we were going to be friends, and so it was. You did not only help with work related matters, but you were a fundamental person for my personal and professional growth all these years. In the moment of need, thank to you, I realized that action needed to be taken and I eventually got better. You know that I will not be a stranger.
I would like to thank the technical staff, Theodora, Renze, Monique, Hans, Peter for the help with the instrumentation and the support during these years.
Anouk, neophyte and heir to the Drag Race Fan world and the former queen of evil who passed on to me such an important title to hold in the lab. If there is one person who thinks alike me in the world, that’s you without a doubt. Through the struggle and the dark moments in this PhD, you have been a true example and you have showed me that there is a light at the end of the tunnel. You are also the one person who makes my resting-bitch-face look bearable to others, after all. And, worth mentioning, I never met before someone who liked eating mayo from a jar as much as I do. Thank you for your brutally honest opinions and for being always such a good friend. Without your corrections, this thesis would have never read this well. I wish you, and Erik, the best in your future, hopefully we will be close to each other at all times.
My dear Dorus, research (and misadventure) partner, lab mate, loop Thursday co-founder and drinking buddy. You were the first person I met in this lab. I initially thought your name was Boris. It suits you, by the way, but not as well as Doris. Without your enthusiasm for our shared research project, it would have been a lot more difficult to finish the nanoparticle work, which is honestly the paper I am the most proud of. I am sure of one thing, with your smile and positivity in the lab I knew that eventually things would work out. Thank you for being there for me all these years, and thank you for accepting to be my paranymph.
Dr. Diederik, Pay-them-no-mind, Roke. It was thank to you that I found out how savage are my opinions about everything (allegedly). I honestly envy how chill you are in the working environment and I have definitely a lot to learn from it. It was a pleasure to share these years with you in the group.
Adele. We started on the same day in this group and I honestly still consider myself so lucky to have found such a good friend so soon. I am happy to hear that you are starting a new great adventure in your life now, and I am looking forward to see you (all) very soon.
Hennie. We started together our PhD and although it was not always easy I am happy to see it got to an end for both of us. Thank you for the the-a-ter shows in Noorderzon, the board game evenings and the coffee breaks in these years. I wish you all the best for your future in Gouda (or anywhere else) with Geert.
151 José, a true ray of light in the lab. Il tuo sorriso contagioso ha reso quest’ultimo anno molto piú piacevole, senza dubbio. Ho imparato tantissimo dal progetto su cui abbiamo collaborato grazie a te, e sono riuscito a crescere molto come ricercatore. Grazie delle chiacchierate e delle risate in questi anni. Sono convinto che farai un lavoro stellare come supervisor, e non vedo l’ora di vedere dove la tua carriera accademica ti porta. My Powerpuff girls, Daisy and Cosima. Every generational change in the lab can be pretty hard for the ones who stay, but the fact that you came along has made my last year a lot better to bear. Thank you for the Drag Race-related evenings/chats/analyses/gossips, the cooking evenings and the fun nights out. But if there is one thing I hope you’ve learned from me, that’s the following: vegan carbonara is not a thing.
Wojtek, I think you have been one of the most valuable researchers in our group. Your knowledge of chemistry is immense and you have shown to put it to good use with all the projects you thought of and accomplished. It was an honor playing you in your movie, I found that I have a talent in impersonating you.
The coffee people, Brian, Michael Kathan, dr. Thiel, Romain, John. Having you as colleagues in the office and free time was incredibly fun. Thank you all for the scientific and non-scientific conversations, and the very fun times in the borrels. Michael, I am sure your enthusiasm for research will make you a fantastic supervisor one day. I am incredibly grateful for having met you and Liljana. Brian, thank you for the interesting and deep conversations this last year. Niklas, getting you as an office mate was a definite upgrade, thank you so much for the good times. Romain, the one person here (with Anouk) who shares my passion for food and wine. It was a pleasure getting to know you, and I wish you and Mira the best of luck for everything.
Marco, I honestly think you’re hilarious and possibly as outrageous and upfront as I can be. Thank you for the nice talks, drinks and dinners through all these years. Francesca, se c’é stato un aspetto positivo nello spostarsi nell’edificio 18 é stato poter essere vicini di ufficio e laboratorio. Fra tutte le persone nell’instituto, sei senza dubbio quella che ha dovuto sopportare le mie lamentele e i miei sbatti piú di tutti. Penso che grazie alla tua positivitá, tu sia riuscita a goderti il dottorato meglio di chiunque altro, onestamente. Ed é cosí che dovrebbe essere :).
To the lab 18 colleagues, Jaime, George, Jeffry and especially Hugo. In that little corner of desolation far from everyone in the group, the spirit was often kept high thanks to you. Thank you for being such nice labmates. Vanda, you eventually got my place in the lab (therefore the best one). For the little I know you, I am sure you’ll make great use of it.
To the latest post-doc additions to the C-wing, Lukas, Greg, Simon, Stefano, Sven and Ruth, Thank you for your knew and insightful contributions to the research in our group. Ruth, thanks for the collaboration on the manganese-salen project.
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To the green building people, Wiktor, Michael, Dusan, Jana, Friederike, Carlijn, Ilse, Pier, Mark and Nadja. Although you were far from us, it was always fun to hang out in workweek and Friday borrels. Nadja and Ilse, thank you for the fun chats and the glorious victory (for which Brian is also to thank, while I basically did nothing) in the Harry Potter pubquiz. Dusan, I am truly so grateful to have you as a friend. You are a loyal person, a kind individual and a great researcher. I am looking forward to seeing what your future in academia holds. Kaja, leaving together in Plutolaan was so much fun. We could really support each other in the hard lab days with your crazy Polish food recipes (which I mostly do not approve of). Thank you so much for the effort and time you put in my thesis cover, I think it looks amazing.
To my “Team Groningen” friends, Joana, Paolo, Vincent, Desiree, Steven, Niek, Annique, Hannah, Sharon, Tejas, Lucile. Having so much fun outside of the research environment was one of the most important things that got me through these four years. Thank you so much for the nights out, board game evenings and poker match.
Giova, Vala, Mod, Lu. In un modo o nell’altro stiamo finendo tutti in stati diversi, ma sono felice del fatto che il nostro rapporto non ne risenta. Il fatto che questa é la terza volta che vi ringrazio in una tesi ne é prova incomfutabile :).
Ai miei pochi(ssimi) amici scout rimasti, Frakkia e Cate, grazie per essere ancora quelle persone che mi ricordano tutto sommato da dove vengo e come me non si fermano davanti a un giapponese all-you-can-eat.
To my dearest Erasmus friends, Tiago, Floor, Gemma, Jemina, Maria, Francesca, in which I also want to include Lotte and Around. After all these years despite the distance you are still people I can count on. And the ones who visited me the most in Groningen. Floor, mijn aankomst in Nederland had niet beter kunnen zijn zonder jou en je welkom pakket (met alles wat echt Nederlands is!). Dankje voor de alles, de Gay Prides, de Vierdaagse met Around en Lotte, en de gezelligheid.
A tutti i miei amici, senza i quali lasciare Milano sarebbe stato molto piú facile :). Gli amici della birra, Nico, Sara, Teo, Chiara, Giorgio, Marco, e tutti gli amici del Beccaria, Sarah, Angi, Bippo, Pietro. Grazie per farmi sentire come se non avessi mai lasciato l’Italia. Bianca, mancano tanto le nostre eterne chiacchierate e pacchetti interi di sigarette fumati sul balcone di casa Tosi.
Un grazie infinito a Fulvia (prof.ssa Mazzilli). Senza di te, e delle letture estive di Oliver Sacks, forse non avrei mai sviluppato interesse per la chimica e mai sarei venuto qui. Grazie degli articoli che continui a mandarmi, e grazie di avermi dato la possibilitá di far lezione per un’ora agli studenti del Beccaria. Un grazie particolare a Mariangela, che in questi anni, e prima che venissi qui, mi ha incoraggiato a seguire i miei sogni e mi ha supportato nei momenti di difficoltá.
153 De Vogel familie. Dankzij jullie heb ik nu een nieuwe gezin ook hier in Nederland en ik voel me een stukje meer thuis.
Le mie cugine preferite, Giorgia, Greta e Irene. Sono felice che siamo riusciti a mantenere i contatti in questi anni, e per ogni volta che ci siamo riusciti a rivedere nonostante la distanza.
Babbo e Mamma. I ringraziamenti qui non finirebbero mai. Se non mi aveste mandato a calci in culo alle lezioni di inglese da bambino e a tutti quei viaggi in Inghilterra, mai sarei riuscito ad avere questo lavoro. Grazie del vostro supporto e di tutte le visite e scarrozzate che vi siete fatti avanti e indietro dai Paesi Bassi, i pacchi di cibo, i fiorilli surgelati quando torno e la pastiera. Perché se non ci si ingozza a casa Tosi, non si sta bene :). Annina, grazie di essere una sorella cosí tenera e presente nonostante la distanza. Ti voglio bene.
Sjoerd, zonder jou had ik deze PhD niet kunnen doen. Your kindness, care and support carried me through the last three years like nothing else and I know they’ll keep doing it. Ogni giorno per me diventa migliore quando torno a casa e possiamo stare insieme.
