Merci d'avoir accepté l'interview.
Tell us about your studies before the thesis:
I arrived in France in 2013 and after finishing my high school degree I started my bachelors in
Paris6 university where I studied a major in mechanics and a minor in physics. After the bachelors Iintegrated an international masters program in the same university called the computational mechanics. I did a one semester Erasmus exchange during the first year of my masters with La Sapienza university of Rome where I also did an internship in the aerospace engineering department. I finished my second year of masters in Paris at the end of which I did an internship in the Institut Jean le Rond d’Alembert on the aeroelastic optimisation of composite structures. My supervisors proposed a PhD to me during this internship so I continued working on the same subject during my thesis as well.
How did you get interested in a thesis and what was your subject?
As I said, my supervisors proposed to me to continue working with them during a PhD thesis. The subject was specifically on the aeroelastic optimisation of composite structures using both
deterministic and stochastic approaches. The idea of doing a PhD thesis started to grow during the second year of my masters after exchanging with some of the PhD students in the Institut Jean le Rond d’Alembert and some of my professors.
What did you do after your thesis?
After the thesis I continued on a postdoctoral project which is a collaboration between
CNRS and EDF. It allowed me to become more familiar with an industrial R&D
environment while working on a new subject.
What advice would you give to someone hesitating to start a thesis?
I think it is important to have an appetite for research before stating a PhD thesis. It is a very
unique experience that no other project could provide. It allows you to develop an expertise
on a specific subject but also grow skills such as public presentation and scientific writing.
On a personal level, it allows you to become autonomous and capable to develop and direct
a project. I personally recommend doing a thesis and I think it helps you develop both your
personal and professional skills.