Hurray! Ph.D...one!

The last four years have been a long and gratifying expedition. From Porto to Austin, Vancouver, Lisbon, Funchal, Łódź, Berlin, Prague, Amsterdam... I've been traveling, learning, researching, meeting new people, overall I greatly evolved both as researcher and as human being.
Most people complain about the hard process. I'm nothing but grateful for how much I have experienced. As I wrote in my acknowledgements section, "Although a Ph.D. is frequently compared to a pilgrimage, despite all the ups and downs, I must confess the path was more pleasurable than painful. Even during the writing process, that often becomes a lonely walk, along the road I met many different people, in a variety of places, who supported and encouraged me." I'm grateful to all of them.

The jury of my viva voce examination (left to right): Nelson Zagalo (external examiner), Eugénio Oliveira (jury president), Rui Penha (internal examiner), me, João Mário Grilo (my supervisor), Marina Estela Graça (external examiner) and Nuno Correia (internal examiner).

Me and João Mário Grilo, my supervisor.

photo credits: Tiago Dias dos Santos