The Shapes and Spins of Kuiper Belt Objects
Lacerda, Pedro
Citation
Lacerda, P. (2005, February 17). The Shapes and Spins of Kuiper Belt Objects. Retrieved
from https://hdl.handle.net/1887/603
Version:
Corrected Publisher’s Version
License:
Licence agreement concerning inclusion of doctoral thesis in the
Institutional Repository of the University of Leiden
Downloaded from:
https://hdl.handle.net/1887/603
Curriculum v ita e
M
arc h 27th, 1 9 75 . That was my birthday. I was born in L isbon , Portu g al. I learn ed to speak relatively early, an d as soon as I cou ld say a few words, I started ask in g q u estion s. I had n o particu lar preferen ce on the su bject, which later proved to be on e of my g ood (an d bad) characteristics. I wen t to school at the E scola do M ag ist´erio Prim´ario, E scola Preparat´oria D elfi m S an tos, an d fi n ally E scola S ecu n d´aria de B en fi ca. I lik ed school a lot. M athematics was my favou rite su bject. Teachers say I was always ag itated, an d distractin g my colleag u es. B esides school I did swimmin g , ten n is, an d ju do. An d I have always lik ed mu sic, which I often played with frien ds. W hen I was abou t ten years old my u n cle g ave me his old compu ter, a Z X S in clair 4 8 K . In hin dsig ht I thin k this was very g ood for me. I lived most of my you th in a n eig hbou rhood called B en fi ca. M ost of my frien ds are there.After hig hschool I wen t to the In stitu to S u perior T´ecn ico in L isbon , to be-come an en g in eer. A little over 3 years later I decided that I wan ted to stu dy theoretical Physics in stead, an d moved to the Facu lty of S cien ces of the Un i-versity of L isbon . In the mean time I work ed part-time at an in tern et service provider. An other 3 years later, when I was in my last year of Physics, I work ed at the Cen ter for Astron omy an d Astrophysics of the Un iversity of L isbon . D u r-in g that time I jor-in ed observr-in g ru n s with Prof. Yu n at L a S illa, an d D r. R oos-S erote at Calar Alto. In 1 9 9 9 I atten ded a su mmer school on solar system scien ce (E VIS S , Coimbra), org an iz ed by D r. R oos-S erote, where I met Prof. J ewitt. S hortly after, I applied, an d was accepted, to a PhD position in L eiden , to work with D r. J an e L u u on K u iper B elt research.
I was very fortu n ate to be able to live an d stu dy in L eiden . D u rin g my PhD research I carried ou t several observin g ru n s at the W illiam H ershel an d Isaac N ewton telescopes on L a Palma, an d at the D u tch 0 .9 m, D an ish 1 .5 m, E S O 2.2m telescopes at L a S illa. I participated in the N O VA fall school in D win g eloo (20 0 0 ), an d atten ded con feren ces at M eu don (20 0 1 ), Pen n S tate (20 0 1 ), the N AC in 20 0 2, B erlin (20 0 2), Porto (20 0 2), an d the IAU G en eral Assembly in S ydn ey (20 0 3). I assisted D r. L u u with the teachin g of the L eiden -D win g eloo S u mmerschool in Astrophysics (20 0 1 ). I en joyed a very fru itfu l visit to the H arvard-S mithson ian Cen ter for Astrophysics (20 0 2), where I work ed with D r. K en yon . At the CfA, I assisted Profs. D on n elly an d S tan ek with the cou rse Astron omy 1 .
Nawoord / A ck n owled g men ts
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rittenwords take space whereas feelings and memories don’t. Therefore I will only be able to mention a few of the many people that helped in the making of this thesis. Nevertheless, I would like to thank everyone I have had contact with in the past, for I have learned from all of you.To everybody at the Sterrewacht, my deepest thanks for making my stay such a pleasant one. I leave with the wish that I may come back. Marja Zaal, Janet Soulsby, Kirsten Groen, and Jeanne Drost, thank you for being always so helpful. The Sterrewacht computer group has been outstanding everytime I needed their support. I thank Garrelt for being the best offi ce mate I could possibly have. I am grateful to Glenn, Michele, and others for many fruitful discussions, in the spirit of how I believe that science should be pursued. I thank the SocCom and the Big Dipper for organizing many entertaining events, and for the Friday borrels. I have enjoyed the hospitality of everyone at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, where I conducted a part of the research presented here. I thank Mango and her housemates for all their support, patience, and friendship, in a crucial step during the preparation of this thesis. Antonietta, Chris (moran taing!), Gaetano e Luca, vi ringrazio per tanti giorni carini, e perch´e siete delle persone molto belle. Mariska, thank you for not allowing any day at the Sterrewacht to be boring. I thank Maaike for always smiling, and adding a bit of poetry to many days. Davor, thanks for being a good friend. As my allo c h to o n buddy, you have a unique perception of how much I will miss Leiden. Ivo, thank you for your friendship, which I deeply treasure.
I am greatly indebted to all my past teachers for my academic education. In connection with this thesis, I thank Prof. Yun and Prof. Agostinho for motivating me to pursue my studies in astronomy. I acknowledge Dr. Roos-Serote for his contribution to Portuguese astronomy, and for organizing a great summer school in Coimbra, which eventually triggered my coming to Leiden. Catarina, obrigado por me teres encorarajado. Obrigado a todos os meus amigos em Portugal, por serem sempre uma boa raz˜ao para voltar.
Lieve Maaike, dankjewel voor de mooiste vertaling van mijn samenvatting, voor jouw geduld met me, en voor 10000 andere dingen.
