Hey Francken members,

As the year is coming to an end, many of you must be scrambling to find a thesis project that interests you and thinking about what you want to do next. That’s why I thought of starting a simple ‘career journey’ blog tailored to Applied Physics in RUG. If you are studying physics, astronomy or maths, most things are probably also applicable to you.

My background for those who don’t know me: I am originally from Kurdistan Iraq but was born in the Netherlands and also grew up in the UAE. In 2017, I came back to the Netherlands for my university studies in Physics (track: energy & environment). Soon, I also enrolled for Applied Physics. In 2019, during my 3rd year, I went to Japan for an exchange programme in the first semester. I came back right before COVID-19 was classified as a global pandemic. Thereafter, I did a board year in 2020-2021 at Francken as the President and Commissioner of Education in the first all-girls board. I graduated Applied Physics in July 2021 and Physics in January 2022. Now, I have a job as a software developer in the research department of a scale-up called Ferroamp Elektronik AB in Stockholm. My project is on integrating vehicle-to-everything (V2X) electric vehicle (EV) charging with our energy hub system. Next year, I will likely continue studying in Stockholm in Sustainable Technology MSc.

The idea behind this is to give you an intro of what will be published in the weekly blogs. They will be short, around a page long, and clearly indicate your timeline for when you should do what. I will go more in depth on my own experiences and things that helped me in each topic. You can also reach me personally for questions or discussions by asking the board for my email or finding me on LinkedIn!

Blog topics, in chronological order: Choosing your bachelor’s thesis project Extracurriculars Deciding on your next step Taking risks Building your CV The importance of LinkedIn Summer opportunities Job search Applying for jobs Preparing for interviews Aftermath First days on the job Reflection & evaluation

If you have any other suggestions or would like for a topic to be released sooner than another, just let me or Sjoukje from the board know! The blogs will be posted on Medium.

Disclaimer: this is very much focused on my own personal experience and how I got to where I am. Everybody has their own trajectory.