Xabier Pedruzo Bagazgoitia, PhD candidate Meteorology and Air Quality; Xabier originates from Spain
‘I will publish my first paper, about the interaction between the surface and the formation and development of clouds, focusing on vegetation. In 2017, I will be looking at other factors and types of clouds within this interaction. If we better understand the interactions in the current climate, we might be able to predict how it will behave in the future.
When I look outside and see a cloud, I want to know what processes cause the phenomenon. The curiosity to understand how things work is my motivation to do research, to keep digging. This is why I took on this PhD position. I doubted if I wanted to stay in the Netherlands for another four years: maybe it was time to go somewhere else. But the topic and the people were too tempting.
Having a nice working atmosphere is perhaps even more important than the topic you are working on. This is also why I am really excited to spend a few months in the United States in 2017. I have been at that institute before during my internship, so I know the people, the research they do and the city, which I all like.
There is enough I can still learn in the Netherlands, both academically and personally: I have some trouble efficiently managing my time; something most colleagues are much better at. I don’t know how long I will be here: I never make long term plans because the person thinking about the decision now is not the same person as the one taking the decision in a few years.’