Victoria Caparrós, doctoral student
Spain
If you could do your PhD at any university in the world, would you still choose ETH above other institutions? Why or why not?
Yes! ETH is consistently ranked within the world’s top universities in computer science and is the best in continental Europe. ETH offers an ambitious PhD program that starts with a competitive selection process. Then, for a period of approximately 4 years - the average duration of a PhD at ETH - PhD students have the opportunity to take courses given by prestigious professors in their fields. ETH provides access to a large amount of computing resources and well-equipped labs, which allows the development of cutting-edge, high-quality research. During the PhD, students attend top-tier conferences all over the world and have the opportunity to better understand academic life by assisting at some courses. Moreover, PhD students at ETH receive an attractive salary and benefit from good working conditions. All this makes pursuing a PhD at ETH a tempting and a unique opportunity.
How would you describe your life as a PhD student up to now? What do you like most about it? What has been particularly memorable?
The life of a PhD student is hard. Pursuing a PhD requires discipline, effort and dedication. However, the reward of spending your time doing what you really like, creating new knowledge and publishing and sharing your work compensate the difficulties you sometimes find.
What I enjoy the most about my PhD is that - thanks to the strong links that ETH has with other leading universities - we can share our work with incredibly inspiring world-class researchers. The Computer Science Department, for example, organizes every semester a series of distinguished lectures. This semester we had the pleasure to listen to Adi Shamir, an internationally recognized cryptographer and a great speaker, who discussed the unprecedented leaks by Edward Snowden. Before each talk, some PhD students have the opportunity to have lunch with the speakers and discuss about their respective work.
We also benefit from the connections between ETH and industry. Actually, ETH offers the possibility to pursue a PhD in a company, which I did at the beginning of my doctoral studies. I started my research at IBM Research in Zurich, where I could enjoy a great research atmosphere. During this period, I learned a lot from the collaboration between my professor, who comes from the academic world, and my colleagues, who are involved in very interesting projects within IBM. I think all these opportunities will help me to develop my future professional career after the completion of my PhD.
Besides the academic aspects, ETH also offers a variety of groups and associations that organize plenty of events, from cultural activities to mountain getaways. I particularly enjoy the sport facilities of ASVZ, and all the events - barbecues, visits to companies, etc. - organized by the PhD students association, VMI, or the Association of Women in Computer Science.
I think that as PhD students we are really fortunate!
If you were given the opportunity to change one thing at ETH, what would it be?
ETH is a big university that covers many disciplines - engineering, science, technology, mathematics and management. Although professors encourage collaboration across teams and departments, sometimes I feel I don’t know what is going on in other departments of ETH, or I discover that some interesting work useful for my research has been done by people sitting in the building next door. So if I were given the opportunity to change something at ETH, I would try to foster the relations and collaborations across departments within ETH.
By choosing to do a PhD in Switzerland, this country has, to some extent, become a new “home”. Which part of you is actually Swiss?
One of the most common myths about Switzerland is the punctuality, perfectionism and precision with which everything is done. When you live in Switzerland, you realize that these myths are real, and in fact everything works surgically. I appreciate that and I enjoy learning how to be part of this society in which everybody is aware of his/her responsibility, follows the rules and, hence, everything works and all your rights are guaranteed. When I travel to other countries, I get really annoyed when I observe that people break the rules. I think that in that sense I have been "swissified".
Assuming after the successful completion of your PhD, you decide to remain in Switzerland. What are your personal and professional aspirations in this country?
Switzerland, despite being a small country, hosts a large number of small and big companies and its strategic geographical position facilitates the connection with many countries in Europe. I don’t know yet what I will do after my PhD, but I know that in Switzerland I could choose from many options, from working in a local Swiss company to a big multinational corporation, or even creating my own business.
From a personal point of view, I feel very comfortable in this country. I like the working environment and working conditions. I appreciate the safety and high quality of life in Switzerland, and I am in love with the beautiful landscapes one can find in this country. I think Switzerland offers the perfect combination of work and leisure.