Marija's Defence

L.S.,

This was basically the first time I put my suit back on since leaving Brussels. (Technically, I should have worn tails, but I couldn't be bothered to.) It was my friend and colleague Marija Bockarjova's Ph.D. defence, and I was asked to be one of the paranimphs. As you can see from the pictures, this is a very demanding job, which mainly requires one to know how to tie a necktie and how not to look bored while someone else talks about their research for an hour. The good news is, though, that I still fit into my suit.

This is the introductory presentation. No powerpoint for the defence itself... As you can see, we unfortunately do not have a nice posh theatre for these occasions, so Ph.D. defences always take place in this lecture theatre.


Everybody rise when the committee comes in.


The announcement of the result, after the defence...




There are more pictures here.

Janina in Vienna

Janina and her grandmother made a stop over in Vienna during their cruise on the Danube. We spent a beautiful day together and visited the medieval town and the Museum of Arts. Finally we ended up drinking sparkling wine in one of the traditional Viennese bars called “Heurigen” where the new wine of the season is sold.

-

Chris

"Goodbye Germany - Welcome Portugal"

Germany has ended its six-month rotating presidency of the European Union and handed over power to Portugal for the remainder of the year. The symbolic transfer took place in Berlin between German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier and his Portuguese counterpart, Luis Amado. French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner extended his country's warm thanks to Germany for its performance at the helm of the EU during the past half-year. During its presidency, Germany got the EU to agree to a 20 per cent cut in greenhouse gas emission by 2020 and prepared the groundwork for a new treaty to overhaul the 27-nation bloc.

Filipe and Ricardo back in POWER!!!