I am Gianfranco Semeraro, a Ph.D. Student from CU3 of 37th cycle of PhD in Sustainable Development and Climate Change. My accademicjourney started as Data Scientist trying to figure out how to improve sustainability of Public Administration processes with the support of Artificial Intelligence, pursuing and promoting Digital Transformation.
I am currently in University of Bari "Aldo Moro". But since February 1st to July 31st 2024 I was hosted by the RWTH AACHENUNIVERSITY at the Informatik department in PADS group. My choice is based onthe fact that the Chief Professor of the PADS group is Prof. Wil Van der Aalst, one of the most important professors about Process Mining and the presence of Nina Graves that is trying to merge sustainability to the most advancedconcepts of Process Mining.
I was very impressed by the organisational level of the work, the university, the research team and the very natural and easy level of interaction with the chief professor. The level of organisation one encounters in the bureaucracy is such that one feels confused by the precision, one can identify the method of solving problems by simply scrolling through websites.The personalities I met seemed slightly colder and more detached than theaverage Italian, but this is only true at the beginning. After a while one manages to get in tune and form connections.
The main problem encountered was that the languages offered on institutional websites sometimes did not include English. In addition, one might encounter people who do not speak English or who only answer in the local language. It is very useful to install some browser add-ons totranslate the web pages. Furthermore, if it is possible to talk with somegerman native it could be more useful instead of a simple translation.
For visiting students, Germany also offers scholarships. The problem is that you have to find the platform for the region in which the destination university is located because germany is a federal republic, soeach region has behaviours that can change. Furthermore, there are some accomodations for students that are the cheapest solution. But they are often full occupied. The rent is very hight considering the italian amount for PhD scholarship.
I feel super enriched considering my personal growth thanks to the experiences carried out in the host university. It could be trivial, butmoving into a new culture where being multi-cultural is one of the key aspects,helps a lot in the personal growth.
The rhythms of daily life, such as lunch and dinner times, are different from the italians' rythms and perhaps more respectful of circadian rhythms. It is really important to take vitamin d as there are long periods when the sun does not appear, which combined with the temperatures in those areas, tend to cause states of depression. Public transport is no longer as punctual as expected. I loved the way the germans treat works i.e. be available only during working hours.
I discovered that in Germany there are several public holidays that include different Christian occasions, such as Pentecost. They have a carnival cult (which allows for public holidays) and that the first of May is not only a workers' day, but also the day on which Germans declare their love through the tree ritual. I found challenging discovers that a lot of people don't speak, or don't want to speak english. Furthermore, the trains can be cancelled very often. I moved a lot in the bigger cities around Aachen, because in Germany they have the Deutschlandticket which consist of a montly ticketthat can be used across all Germany territory using any Bus, Regional Train, Metro or Tram.