My Estonia experience has come to an end a few days ago when I returned to my habitual residence in Portugal after having spent one important month in the amazing Tartu, where I had such great time and made so many truly amazing friends with whom I shared so many fantastic moments!
I spend last March in The University of Tartu, with a Short Term Scientific Mission funded by COST action CM1206. The visit was meant to be a start of a new collaboration between our two research groups: the host group lead by Prof. Enn Lust (University of Tartu, Estonia) and the home group lead by Prof. Carlos M. Pereira and Prof. M. Natália D. S. Cordeiro (University of Porto, Portugal), and it definitely was a promising start! In the Analytical and Electroanalytical Chemistry Group (where my superviser in prof. Carlos M. Pereira) we study electrical double layer in solutions of ionic liquids experimentally, and in the Theoretical Chemistry Group (under the guidance of prof. M. Natália D. S. Cordeiro) we simulate bulk properties of ionic liquids and ionic liquids behavior on uncharged surfaces. The idea of this collaboration was to learn approaches to access electrical double layer phenomenon, observed experimentally, in computer simulation. The host group has an experience in simulation of charged electrode surfaces and in automating the computation work flow, as the leading developer of the NaRIBaS scripting framework, Dr. Vladislav Ivaništšev, works there. Thus, it was a perfect match! I could not find another group where I could learn all the “tricks” about simulation the charged interfaces and automate my calculations at the same time. During this mission I worked closely with Dr. Vladislav Ivaništšev on developing simulation setups and methods of charging the electrode’s surface. During my visit, besides workshops on working in Atomic Simulation Environment, I attended a very useful workshop on Scientific Writing, given by Djuddah A. J. Leijen in AVOK – Centre for Academic Writing and Communication. The ideas I learned there I implemented in my every day work, which made me more productive.
During my stay in Tartu University I had a chance to work in several university buildings. First two weeks, I worked on the Institute of Phisics, so called “Physicum”, and the last two weeks I staying in the Institute of Chemistry, the “Chemicum” building. Both building are modern, spacious and luninous, and I found it to be very inspiring to work there. But … that was only during the working day! The evenings and weekends were intense and highly saturated with cultural events. Time I spent in Tartu University was not only a great period of learning and collaboration, but also a great traveling experience. As it was my first time not only in Tartu, but in Estonia as well, each evening and weekend me and my new estonian friends and colleagues were exploring Estonia. Most of ours attention was dedicated the city of Tartu, of course. I have been to University of Tartu Natural History Museum, to AHHAA Science Center, I visited Orchid exhibition in Tartu University Botanical Garden, Historical building of Tartu University. Almost every day I was visiting Tartu Old City with its parks and gardens, ruins of Tartu Cathedral, the Kissing Students monument and lovely little cafes. I was invited to attend a Movie Night in the C!FP Sorority, where learned the history of this remarkable organization and of Estonia itself. Also I visited the capital of Estonia, Tallinn, and now I can say that it is known as “Pearl of the Baltic Sea” because of a good reason. The capital if very beautiful, and it looks like a town from a fairy tale. A small and lovely town of Viljandi, which is considered to be cultural capital of Estonia, partly due to the Viljandi Culture Academy being located there, impressed me with its landscapes and ruins of an ancient castle. In all my adventures I was accompanied by a PhD student of the host group, Meeri Lembinen who is a remarkably friendly and helpful person.
Summarizing, I would like to say, that my visit to Tartu University was a beautiful, intense and influential time, full of impression and emotions, replete with studying, friendship, collaboration, and travels. I learned a lot not only about simulation (which was huge!), but also about Estonian culture and history. I met good people, which become my friends. I would like to thank for all the help and hospitatily to Meeri Lembinen and Vladislav Ivaništšev, who made my visit truly productive in all senses. It was my first visit to Estonia, but it will not be the last, definitely!
Iuliia Voroshylova from University of Porto
