I am Italian but I haven’t lived in Italy since I finished secondary school. Instead, I’ve studied in four different countries. During my degree in Materials Engineering at the University of Manchester, I felt that some concepts were not thoroughly explained and I was left with lots of unanswered questions. This motivated me to attempt to become a scientist. After my bachelor’s degree, I wanted to learn more physics, so I looked for opportunities where I could learn and at the same time get paid for it. I managed to find a master’s degree with a European grant and then a PhD between University College London and the ESRF, which allowed me to spend two years on ID01. I studied ferroelectric thin films, which could be used in future nanoelectronic devices. Thin films are normally very difficult to study non-destructively; only the unique capabilities of ID01 permit to image such samples with unprecedented resolution. After my time at the ESRF, I left with a list of positive feelings and did not perceive, for once in my life, the urge to go anywhere else.
At the end of my PhD I was looking for a post-doctoral position. The ESRF ticked lots of boxes: I had understood many new concepts during my PhD and I really want to develop them further, I enjoy the environment here a lot and, finally, being the ESRF a user facility, I find helping people, in this case fellow scientists, very motivating.