Material Science Special Seminar Ⅱ

Department of Physics, Graduate School of Science, Mr. Kinoshita

Before going to Germany, I was relatively nervous about what and how this experience could impact my research. Luckily, I am glad to say that this stay was very interesting and, to some degree, life-changing. I have studied in Prof. Menzel’s group at Otto-von Guericke University Magdeburg for about seven months. Their group was fairly new and mostly composed of Ph. D. students and postdocs. I engaged in a theoretical project about active solids, the material made of self-propelled constituents, with Prof. Menzel. It was favorable that my research interest was well received by him. Unfortunately, it has not been finished yet, but things are going well.

Every comment from Prof. Menzel got to the heart of the matter. I will continue this project and hope that the fruits of the research will be published. The discussion with the group members provided me with unvaluable insights on active matter physics. Moreover, thanks to Prof. Menzel, I got an opportunity to give a lecture about my previous project at TU Berlin. The lecture was an amazing experience to me because the audience was engaged with my talk with plenty of questions. I was surprised that one of the Ph. D. students there supervised an undergraduate student. I heard that it is common in Germany.

I felt a cultural gap in terms of working styles. The researchers there can balance work and private life. They strictly manage their working time and take vacation at some seasons such as Christmas. It sounds natural, but as it is well known, many Japanese researchers tend to overwork. I was also one of them. As I changed my lifestyle and made more room for free time, something favorable happened: my productivity increased, and my stress reduced. It made a great impact on me since I come from a different background.

Because I was registered as a Ph. D. student, I had an opportunity to take some lectures. The courses I took included a lecture and exercise of hydrodynamics/elasticity and a German language course. The course of physics helped me not only review my knowledge but also learn new concepts. To be honest, I did not expect that the lecture would be supportive since I had already learnt the content. However, the lecture and exercise classes were interactive, and we could consider basic ideas from many points of view. The German language course was a great experience to become familiar with German culture. Sadly, it may take more time for me to be able to speak German.

As I mentioned above, holidays became one of the most important parts of my lifestyle. I had fun with short trips in Germany with my friends. My favorite region is Hertz, a highland area on Northern Germany, because there are many historical cities which were still preserved after WWII.

My stay in Germany brought a new perspective to me on physics and a more balanced lifestyle. I am grateful to everyone who has been involved with this opportunity. This experience will make my future better without a doubt.

Fig. 1 Otto-von-Guericke-Universität Magdeburg

Fig. 2 Schloss Cecilienhof