... and a happy New Year

Twelve was the year in which I graduated from the University of Leuven. Master of Science in Astronomy, magna cum laude - no doubt the highest peak of my past year. The last 365 days started out in Denmark, where I finished my Master's thesis. Blood, sweat, tears, but it worked out quite satisfactory. In May, I took part in a scientific conference on asteroseismology, where I presented my thesis results on a poster. Later in 2012, it got nominated for an award by a magazine called EOS. I didn't win (and a big congratulation to the winner and his thesis work), but I can now officially announce that I will take up blogging about astronomy for Scilogs.be, a Belgian portal of scientific (outreach) blogs connected to the magazine.

In between starting my first real job and graduating, I saw a bit of the world. I spent two summer months in the warmest place on Earth, the deserts of Doha, Qatar. As an intern, I worked there on the New Port Project with DEME, a Belgian dredging company. To say I fell in love with the Middle East wouldn't quite be the truth, but it was a very interesting experience. With some extra money on the bank and some time left, I travelled through Peru. In 2012, I saw the ruins of Machu Picchu.

In twelve, I decided to pursue a PhD degree and I got accepted to do so at the University of Aarhus, where I started two months ago. And so, thirteen marks the start of the real, grown up life. I hope I can do some science, and study the exoplanets. They're there in the sky, circling around their stars, waiting to be discovered and to be studied. With over 800 of them now known, most discovered during the last few years, it's an extremely interesting time to be part of this field of research.

Even more significant than the start of my 'career', in 2013 I decided to really move away from home and live in Denmark. Sure, I haven't been living with my parents for the last five years and in the past year I haven't been in Belgium much, but this time things are different. My contract ends in October 2015, so I will be in Aarhus for as far as I can imagine the future. I hope to find a lovely place to settle down and call home. But don't get me wrong; my real home will never cease to be about 850 kilometers from there. As things look right now, I will be cooperating with the University of Leuven for my research on exoplanet atmospheres, so hopefully I can also spend some of my time working in Belgium.

Once I find this lovely place to live, I will pick up again with something I have missed ever since I quit doing it. I will start playing the piano again. However, my main New Year's resolution is even more concrete this year: in 2013, I would like to learn the Danish language and speak it fluently. I hope everyone writes it down and confronts me with this statement on a regular basis during the coming 365 days. And to my Danish friends: please help me and correct my mistakes, but most of all, I hope you speak Danish to me, and force me to do the same. Mange tak!

A year ago, I announced 2012 would mean the end of the crisis and the start of the recovery. That didn't quite work out as I had boldly predicted, but this time, I mean it. Optimism is a moral duty, but you'll see: in 2013, it will work. I wish all my friends the best of luck with (finishing) their studies, or with their (first) jobs. With life and love. I wish you the best of luck, pursuing your dreams. May they all come true in thirteen! Happy New Year!

Groetjes, kusjes en liefde,

Vincent

PS: I hope you enjoy this blog's new layout!