Short intro about me:
I am an assistant professor at the Comenius University in Bratislava, Slovakia. I obtained my PhD in 2019 for research focused on small interplanetary bodies, mainly focusing meteor spectroscopy and meteoroid composition analyses. Right after my PhD study, I had my first opportunity to take part in the ERASMUS+ program. I have spent three months at the IAC in La Palma for a research stay focused on asteroid spectroscopy, working with Dr. Julia de Leon. We have established an active collaboration on a project focused on the characterization of basaltic asteroids. I have returned in 2022 to continue our ongoing collaboration.
How did your career benefit from the ERASMUS project?
The research stay at La Palma allowed me to expand my research focus from meteoroids to asteroids, learn new techniques in spectroscopic analyses and work with data from the largest optical telescopes in the world. I was supervised by one of the leading scientists in this field, Dr. Julia Leon. We have began an active collaboration, published a peer-reviewed paper together and continued to work together to this day. Thanks to this established collaboration, we were recently awarded a small ESA project led by Comenius University, Bratislava in partnership with our colleagues from IAC.
How did the ERASMUS program support your personal development?
I very much enjoyed working on La Palma, not only because of the beautiful nature, but because it allowed me to meet new colleagues and friends working on interesting research. Thanks to these new connections, I will always be happy to return to La Palma during our ongoing collaboration.
Can you share some experience from your ERASMUS exchange?
My most memorable night from the research stay was at the GTC telescope, where we stayed overnight to see how the world’s largest single-aperture telescope observes. While the telescope was impressive by itself, I was awe-struck by the night sky when I took a walk outside the dome. It happened to be a night with one of the best observing conditions of the year, and while I have been to some of the darkest places in the world, this was the most impressive night sky I have ever seen.
5.9.2023