University of Groningen
Enzyme engineering for sustainable production of caprolactam
Marjanovic, Antonija
DOI:
10.33612/diss.168442979
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Publication date:
2021
Link to publication in University of Groningen/UMCG research database
Citation for published version (APA):
Marjanovic, A. (2021). Enzyme engineering for sustainable production of caprolactam. University of
Groningen. https://doi.org/10.33612/diss.168442979
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Acknowledgements
Perseverance is one, if not the, most important characteristic attributed to PhDs. Basically, in every single defense it gets mentioned as for why a completion was successful. It implies strength and goal-orientedness, endurance, and patience. And especially for those of us where the PhD expands over the four years mark, perseverance becomes a thing buzzing around our heads, where our motivation should be rooted. The dark side of perseverance comes with frustration and loneliness and is often overlooked. Therefore, perseverance should not get the glory for the doctor’s title, but the real heroes behind every PhD student: their support system. Without the attention, wisdom, guidance, advice, acceptance, love, and overall support of the following people none of what is written in this book would have been possible. Herewith, let me introduce to you the people behind my perseverance.
Dear prof. Janssen, before I started in your group you had the reputation to be a very strict group leader. Looking back, I knew little but thought to know so much. Under your supervision, my sci-entific capabilities grew and my critical thinking expanded. Thank you for your guidance and for giving me the space to come up with new research topics, which resulted in these four, very different research chapters. In Germany, the PhD super-visor is also called the “Doktorvater” — they can be (sometimes) strict but with a truly kind heart. I would like to extend my gratitude also to my second supervisor prof. Bovenberg. Thank you for checking on my progress from the distance. Your curiosity in my research and my personal development has helped me in staying on track. Thanks, to the reading committee, profs Fraaije, Driessen, and Hanefeld for your time in assessing my thesis and the helpful corrections. Marleen and Marcelo, you had the biggest influ-ence on me in the first years of my PhD. I am so
grateful that I could learn from both of you. You were my teachers and mentors even after your employment in our group has stopped. Additionally, I was coached by Pia and Arjenne; you became my inner voices of comfort and advice.
With the support of the people who collaborated with me on the chapters, none of this work would have been possible. Hein and Henriette, your expertise elevated our work and I am thankful for all the moments you took your time to teach me about protein structures and writing articles. Carlos, thank you for contributing your knowledge of PLP-dependent enzymes under the supervision of prof. Siewert-Jan Marrink to the work on decarboxylases. Clemens, thank you for the encouraging discussions and input on the re-action mechanism of the caprolactamase enzyme. I was also lucky to supervise many talented students in the lab, of which, Jeroen, Alberto, and Meintje completed their bachelor and/or master thesis within my project. I am thankful for your dedication and hard work in researching some of the challenging aspects of the work presented in this thesis.
Cheers also to my paranymphs. Gautier, my brother from another mother. Thank you for all the silly and serious talks, the arias in the office, and the dancing in the lab. I know that your path will lead you to Canada, but we will stay always connected in friendship. Elvira, my dear, I recognize a lot of myself in you. Thank you for being the cheerful ball of energy and supplying me with all the “did you hear about…” stories. I would like to thank all my colleagues in the Janssen and Fraaije group, which were quite some over the period (too many to acknowledge separately)! The knowledge base that exists in this lab is incredible and ever-adapting. Every one of you brought your own set of expertise and knowledge as PhD or postdoc, that I could always turn to somebody within the group for questions.
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Ana, Alex, Cyntia, Dana, Elvira, Hessam, Hugo, Max, Misun, Nikola, Nina, you were the basis of my PhD experience and you created the essence of this wonderful group.
Dana and Nina, you helped me re-integrate in the group after my sick leave and I am very grate-ful that you took me by the hand and showed me the way back into the lab.
Misun, my family in Croatia will probably never forget the “Japanese” girl that was dancing at my cousin’s wedding and I in return will never forget dancing on yours in Korea.
Many thanks also to you, Peter. Your view on the surroundings impresses me and through you I tried my best to not roam the halls “like a monk in a monastery.”
To my dearest “Blue train”-people: Brenda, Christiaan, Eduardo, Eleonora, Elvira, Estela, Ewa, Gautier, Jeroen, Nikolas, Mohamed, and Yapei. There has been eating and drinking, laughing and crying, hugging and kissing, gossips, dinners, dancing and singing, moving house, games, car smashing, football and bbq’s, engagements and weddings, face swaps, workouts, and more food. Memories have been made and I will always cherish this special time that I spend with you.
Brenda, I am so thankful that you came to our group at the end of your PhD. Thank you for being my trusted confidante in the last phase of my PhD.
Elvira, Estela, and Nikolas, the legendary last generation of Dick’s PhDs. I thank you for your friendship and I wish you all the best for the completion of your projects.
Gautier and Yapei, my lovely office mates, you brought all kinds of fun gadgets into our office and your warmth made it such a pleasant environment.
I can’t wait for all of you to defend, because I have a ton of photo/video material to share with the world. Especially from you, Jeroen! Thank you for all the fun!
Outside of the lab, within my organizational roles in Gopher, the PhD day committee, and Pint of
Science, I have also met some incredible people, who inspired me to look beyond my plate into the world and expand my horizon. I would like to thank every single one of them although men-tioning by name would explode these pages and would contradict my “environmentally friendly” printing approach. We created programs, work-shops, and lectures and organized trips together to make a colorful PhD community that I was proud to be a part of.
In Groningen I also found a musical community, I was a proud member of: the chamber choir Moderato Cantabile. Lieve koorleden, wat heb-ben we mooie muziek gemaakt! Ongeacht hoe slecht mijn dag was, één avond met jullie repe-teren was genoeg om weer op mijn oude ener-gieniveau te komen. We waren verbonden door onze liefde voor muziek, maar ook op persoonlijk vlak boden jullie mij steun en betrokkenheid die aanvoelden als thuis. Bedankt voor de koorreizen naar Barcelona en Wenen en voor de geweldige CD die we hebben opgenomen in Loppersum! En vooral dank aan jou, Nana. Je bent een briljante muzikant en leraar en ik ben dankbaar dat je me onder je vleugels hebt genomen.
As my journey was not without its chal-lenges I would like to thank my other friends, who were there for me when times were hard. Claudi und Carla, über 15 Jahre kennen wir uns schon und eure Freundschaft ist un-ersetzlich für mich. Was auch passiert, ich kann mich auf euch verlassen und ihr gebt mir das Düsseldorf-ist-zuhause-Gefühl.
Estefanía and Maik, your positive energy strikes me every time and you always look at the bright side of things. Being with you in Groningen, Barcelona, Mallorca, Ameland, it doesn’t matter where, feels so natural: mi casa es su casa.
Daniela and Erik, by knowing how the unimag-inable feels, I found solace in your friendship.
Mirjam, there simply aren't enough big hugs I can get from you! Thank you for your friendship and empathy in the ups and downs of the PhD journey.
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Simon and Marthe, the way to a girl’s heart goes through her stomach. I came for the food, but stayed for your friendship. Thank you for being open minded and creative and always surprising me in some way.
All in all, I consider myself incredibly lucky to have found myself in the Netherlands surrounded by extraordinary, brilliant, and beautiful minds in the lab and outside that I can call my friends. In the end, I would like to express my apprecia-tion for my family.
Mijn lieve schoonouders, Jannie en Rindert, jullie maakten van Groningen een tweede thuis voor mij en verwelkomden mij in jullie familie. Jullie hebben ons altijd ondersteund in woord en daad en ik kan het niet vaak genoeg zeggen, maar har-telijk bedankt daarvoor! Jullie huis is een oase van rust en ontspanning voor ons geworden, wanneer we het nodig hadden, en daarom is ons B&B nu onbeperkt voor jullie gereserveerd (we gaan de punten uit ons eerste review nog aanpakken). En mijn schoonzus, Marjon, wat leuk om dichter bij jou te wonen! Het is altijd gezellig met jou en Eric M en ik word er blij van als we elkaar zien. Now we come to a part that caused me pain to write. My beloved father, I regret that time has not been kind enough, for you to witness this moment. I could have pictured you sitting in the audience next to some colleague or friend of mine you didn’t know, boxing them in the side with your elbow and saying in broken English: “This is MY daughter!”. I know you would have been so proud. Your smile would have been the biggest and your clapping the loudest. Now, you are probably sitting next to some poor angels, poking them in the side and telling them how proud you are. — Sva sam dado, sva sam na tebe. Mama, tvoja podrška nema ograničenja. Toliko toga ste ti i tata morali žrtvovati za nas, da biste nam pružili što više mogućnosti u životu. Uz trud i strpljenje, ljubav i toplinu sagradila si taj temelj
da bismo mogli rasti, i postati ljudi na koje možeš biti ponosna. Hrvoje, Tena, ne mogu zamisliti kako bi bilo da sam ostala jedinica. Vi ste moja sol i papar, šećer i ocat. Predobro me poznajete i kad postane teško znam da se mogu osloniti na vas i zahvaljujem vam od cijelog srca za vašu podršku na mom putu. Alles in allem, Mama und Uli, Hrvoje, Tena und Tony, kann ich mir nicht vorstellen wie dieser Abschnitt meines Lebens ohne eure Unterstützung machbar gewesen wäre. Danke für alles!
And finally, at the top of my superheroes list is the love of my life, Eric. Your love and attention, honesty, and goodness are inspiring me every day. You are my motor and you push me forward towards a better version of myself. My perse-verance has your name. Together we make an inseparable team and I hope we continue moving forward in the future as a perpetuum mobile (even though you as a physicist have probably some thoughts on the correctness of this meta-phor). Ik hou van jou!
At last, I wish all of you, also the ones I have not mentioned by name but that crossed paths with me in this time, a fulfilled life in good health and plenty of perseverance in form of good company! Yours truly,
