About me
I was born in Romania, in Radauti, in the heart of a beautiful region called Bucovina. I have always loved Sciences, and this is mostly thanks to my parents (they both have a Chemistry-Physics degree and have both taught Chemistry at gymnasium and high school levels). When I was about 13 years old, after an inspiring discussion with one of the professors from Universitatea Alexandru Ioan Cuza, I decided that I wanted to become a scientist. A few years later, I started my undergraduate degree in Technological Biochemistry at the Universitatea Alexandru Ioan Cuza, Iasi, Romania. After graduating, I continued my studies with a Master in Inorganic Chemistry. I have been offered an Erasmus Scholarship to attend the courses of my second year of Master at Université Paris XI, Orsay, France. I continued then with a Doctorate in Chemistry, at Université Paris XI. After obtaining by Doctorate degree, I took on a position as a Research Fellow in the Superconductivity and Magnetism Group, Department of Physics, at the University of Warwick, United Kingdom. After 2 extensions of my contract as a postdoc, I applied for a promotion to Assistant Professor (Research Focused). Along with the promotion, I have also secured a permanent position in the Department of Physics, at the University of Warwick. A bit over 3 years later, I moved to Switzerland, on a Scientist position in the Laboratory for Multiscale materials eXperiments (LMX), at the Paul Scherrer Institut (PSI). I am currently maintaining and running Materials Discovery Lab, a solid state synthesis and crystal growth facility hosted in the Department of Materials (D-MATL), at the ETH Zurich (ETHZ).
Education
October 2009 - December 2012
Doctorate in Chemistry, Université Paris-Sud, Orsay, France.
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Field: Chemistry.
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Thesis ”Synthesis and study of Ga2 −x FexO3 compounds” (Viva: 17th December, 2012).
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Work at Laboratoire de Physico-Chimie de l’Etat Solide (LPCES)-Institut de Chimie Moléculaire et des Matériaux d’Orsay (ICMMO), Orsay, France (supervisor Prof. Dr. Loreynne Pinsard-Gaudart) and at Laboratoire Léon Brillouin (LLB)-Orphée, CEA-Saclay, Gif-sur-Yvette, France (supervisor Dr. Habil. Sylvain Petit).
September 2008 - July 2009
Research Master (M2) (Erasmus Scholarship), Université Paris-Sud, Orsay, France.
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Field: Inorganic Chemistry.
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Specialisation: Inorganic chemistry: from nano-systems to biological systems.
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Dissertation thesis ”Study of doping in GaFeO3 ”.
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5 months internship work at LPCES-ICMMO, Orsay, France (supervisor Prof. Dr. Loreynne Pinsard-Gaudart).
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October 2007 - July 2008
Master (M1), Universitatea ”Alexandru Ioan Cuza” Iasi, Romania.
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Field: Inorganic Chemistry.
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Specialisation: Synthesis, Structure and Reactivity of Inorganic and Radiochemical Compounds.
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October 2003 - July 2007
Bachelor degree, Universitatea ”Alexandru Ioan Cuza”, Iasi, Romania.
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Field: Chemistry.
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Specialisation: Technological Biochemistry.
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Teacher Training module (qualification for a career in teaching) as part of the Bachelor Degree.
Awards, Scholarships and Grants
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Nominated (longlist) for the University of Warwick Awards 2019 for the contribution to Public Engage- ment, as individual and as part of the Warwick XMaS Science Gala Team.
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Shortlisted for the University of Warwick Awards 2019 for the contribution to Public Engagement, as part of the Warwick XMaS Science Gala Team.
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Project "It's a matter of crystals" (2018) supported by the Warwick Public Engagement fund.
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Awards received from various recognition schemes (2017 and 2019) at the University of Warwick.
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Erasmus Scholarship (2008-2009) for a M2 Research Master at Université Paris XI, Orsay, France.