Angelo Bonanno

Hi, my name is Angelo Bonanno, and while I was a student of the MSc in Physics at DFA, I also had the opportunity to discover the world. During the final year of my MSc programme, in 2019, I moved to University College Dublin (UCD), Ireland, as an Erasmus student, for 4 months. Erasmus life in Ireland was very exciting, everyday there is the great opportunity to get in touch with people from all over the world, to learn a lot from them, and to discover a lot of new places.

Going on an exchange is an amazing privilege and a once in a lifetime opportunity, but during my MSc programme, I had a second opportunity to go abroad. For my thesis internship in 2020 I had the opportunity to stay and study for 6 months at EPFL, Lausanne, Switzerland, as an Erasmus student. Here, I worked at Laboratory of Nanoscience for Energy Technologies (LNET). The main focus of my thesis research was on Photogating of Carbon-based materials for Ionic Energy Devices. Using nanophotonic design strategies for extreme light-concentration, we studied how photogating can be exploited to realize novel ionic-based devices, such as graphene-based energy generation systems. Switzerland is a small country, and it offers the possibility to travel everywhere by bike or by train. It is the place to enjoy wonderful mountains and lakes.

Erasmus is a powerful experience. It can change your life completely. Living abroad, studying something different or in a different way is something you will never forget. Erasmus is one of those adventures to live during your lifetime.