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3-minute summary of my PhD journey

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My big BAM theory

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It has been almost three months since I haven't updated my blog. To be honest, I really had a tough time since last December, not only because of pressure from my work, but also from my private life. I was down for quite a while, but  don't worry, I have recovered and I am totally new LIJIA! When I look back to those hardest time, it is not the tears and sleepless night, all I remembered is how my colleagues and friends get me through all of this. We are not alone in the society, we can't live without friends and family. I feel so lucky that I met such a nice group of people in BAM that light up my way through the dark . In this post, I want to talk my life working as a PhD in BAM.
(One nice afternoon, when I went off  from work and captured the beautiful sunset outside of BAM)

BAM stands for Bundesanstalt für Materialforschung und –prüfung, which means Federal Institute for Materials Research and Testing. It is a senior scientific and technical Federal institute with responsibility to Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy.

I worked in department 7, which is department of Safety of structures. There are nearly 1800 employees in BAM and around 200 PhD students. We have PhD association here and  now and then both academic and non academic events are arranged . For academic events, there is PhD day that PhDs are invited to prepare their poster in BAM and a best poster will be selected. And also PhD retreat where PhDs are gathered together outside of BAM to have a two day seminar.

Group photo from PhD retreat
IR photo from PhD day


All my colleagues are very nice, they care about my feeling, help with my work and invite me to attend all kinds of events in case I was alone. It was the first time that I had Christmas party in a lab or workshop, had dinner with concrete and steel structures surrounded, that was impressive!
Christmas party with my lovely colleagues
This was a first time that I attended a 5x5km running competition as a team abroad. I felt so good when I finally achieved it!

Teamstaffe day,5x5km running


Working abroad is hard, far away from home is sometimes sad, but with good friends and colleagues around you, you will never feel lonely:)
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Comments

  1. Imane Bayane26 March 2018 at 12:47

    Very well said, good luck Lijia in life and in work.

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    1. Lijia Long5 April 2018 at 01:38

      Thank you Imane, best luck to you as well!

      Delete
  2. Joey Velarde29 March 2018 at 01:30

    I like the new LIJIA! <3

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    Replies
    1. Lijia Long5 April 2018 at 01:40

      Hahaha, thank you Joey, I like the new LIJIA as well <3

      Delete

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