I am now a Doctor (of successful failures)!

As a 15-year-old, when I undertook my first serious scientific endeavor as a middle schooler, I remember crying my heart out when my science teacher trashed the one month of serious hard-work of our children-scientist group. I remember how my parents and my sister consoled me for hours before I could return to my usual cheerful self. I remember how much their support meant to me when the ‘middle-schooler me’ re-initiated and worked hard to succeed on that project. When I look back in time, I realize how small that event was in the grand scheme of things. At the same time, I also realize that this was the first time that I had failed so badly after working so sincerely and diligently. I still remember how my father repeated his sagacious advice that I should be proud of the amount of hard work I put into my chosen endeavor, rather than being distraught about the result. My mother repeated how much I matter to my family irrespective of my successes and failures. And my sister sat beside me telling me how much she believed in my abilities. Since then, I have gotten used to the failures, and the successes have been rare. But they have stood by me in their usual roles of being my support systems. I cannot thank them enough for their support in all my endeavors irrespective of the success or failure.

Following the first two years of the exploratory work during my Ph.D. research, it was during the last two years that I had to concretize almost all my ideas in the form of manuscripts. This was also the time that I spent with my now fiancée, Niharika. We are from the same town and were still separated by 3.5/4.5 hours of time difference most of the time. While I worked till 7-8 pm Brussels time, she patiently waited till late into the Indian nights for me to return so that we could talk. I cannot thank her enough for living in Belgian time while staying and working in India. She inspires me a lot with her ability to still maintain her career advancement so well. I thank her for shouldering so many of the responsibilities which came with our relationship, and covering up for me where I lacked. While I have been driven by cautious pragmatism in most of my decisions, her boundless optimism towards my abilities also motivates me a lot. The amount of affection, love, and dedication that she has showered onto me has made me stronger every day. Especially during the last year, when I have been so anxious regarding the decisions for my future career, she has been the calming force by ensuring me her unconditional support towards my career choices. I know that she would not like me to thank her because she would say that “this is what she thinks she must be doing”.

It has been a long time since I have believed that research was what I wanted to pursue as a career. Accordingly, I had set quite high expectations from the people who were called scientists and/or researchers. As the situation turned out to be, I was a bit disheartened when I left my Ph.D. in the US, questioning my choice to pursue a career in research. However, even before I arrived in Belgium, my doubts were resolved initially by the support of Dr. Ruben and Dr. Mieke, and then by professor Pegie and professor Vera. I would like to thank them from the bottom of my heart for supporting me throughout this journey. I thank professor Pegie for her kindness and for keeping my morale high even when I made grave mistakes, by skillfully redirecting me. There were many instances where my procrastination would have frustrated her a lot, but she still kept her calm and allowed me to grow as a person and as a researcher individually. I would like to thank professor Vera for her scrupulous evaluations and comments on all my write-ups and presentations. All our meetings opened up my eyes towards new approaches to solve the technical problems at hand. Both, professor Vera and Professor Pegie have been really kind to me throughout this Ph.D. journey, and I would like to thank them from the bottom of my heart.

I arrived in Brussels in February 2017. I remember how overwhelmed I felt when Ruben offered to drive me to Mol. It feels like yesterday when I met him the first time at the airport. I came to know about this Ph.D. position because I was following Ruben on Researchgate, which was because I was trying to follow his work for my master thesis. Therefore, for me, meeting him was an overwhelming moment. But he immediately put me at ease. I cannot dream of a better mentor than Ruben has been to me. He has been so open to new ideas and he has allowed me to grow so much as a researcher, that I attribute a lot of my career progress to him. I understand that I can sometimes be a hard-headed mentee who wants to pursue his own ideas, and that can sometimes be a bit frustrating for an accomplished mentor like Ruben. However, he allowed me to keep my original approach while still polishing my skills within the limits of my personality. He is one of the most down-to-earth people I have ever met. I think that I can write an essay just on how he has masterfully helped me to grow within the limitations of my personality.

Working with the researchers at ART team has been a highly fulfilling experience for me. I have received a lot of encouragement from Dr. Mieke during my Ph.D. journey, and I would like to thank her for the same. I remember that there were a number of group get-togethers where she gave me a lot of time to discuss my progress and encouraged me to pursue high-quality research. Especially, when I was frustrated for not getting useful results for a few months, she always told me that the Ph.D. journey never goes according to the plan. And that adapting your path is not a problem, as far as you keep contributing to the main aim of your project. She also gave me a number of opportunities to present my work on different platforms, for which I am indebted to her. I would also like to thank Dr. Peter Nielsen, who was always there to guide me wherever I got stuck with understanding the results of my carbonation experiments. His experience of working with the materials and the processes has been a great help for me.

I cannot thank enough the contribution of the other researchers in the ART group. I would like to thank Hadi Kazemi-Kamyab for so many of his suggestions and for the experiments that we did together. He has been someone with whom I felt really comfortable discussing my problems as a Ph.D. student as well as in understanding the technical challenges which I faced. I would also like to sincerely thank Jef Bergmans for his suggestions and help. He was also instrumental in helping me to go for the YEAR conference and learning useful skills. I would also like to thank Jeroen for sharing his expertise on the corrosion of iron. I hope that I will be able to learn more from his expertise in the future. I would also like to thank Liesbeth Horckmans for her efforts to make me feel comfortable as a part of the group, especially during the initial months of my Ph.D. I would also like to thank Arne Peys for his technical as well as personal suggestions. He has been really helpful and kind, whenever I asked for his help. I would also like to thank Kris Broos for being so kind and affectionate towards me. I must invite him and his family for some Indian food some time. He was always ready to help with a smile on his face. He has been really friendly and nice to me. I would also like to thank Fero for our discussions and for being so kind and affectionate towards me. I would also like to thank Roeland for the chats we had, and for making me feel welcome to the group. He has also been very kind to me. I would also like to thank Liesbet for being so helpful and kind.

Apart from the researchers, there have been so many others at ART to whom I would like to express my gratitude. I had the opportunity to share my office with the technical staff for more than two years of my Ph.D. I would especially like to thank Bo Peeraer for his relentless help. Whenever I needed him, he dropped everything else to be available for help. He is one of the most dedicated technical experts I have worked with. Myriam was a delight to work with. All my research was significantly dependent on XRD, and Myriam readily tried to accommodate all my requests and performed at least a thousand XRD scans for me over the course of my Ph.D. Her dedication to her instrument is mind-blowing. She never lets any problem pass by her. She has so many volumes of books in her library, and she always knows where to look for, whenever we were stuck. We also had wonderful discussions whenever we worked together. I also spent considerable time with Raymond while doing SEM analyses. I have learned a lot from him. I was very fortunate to learn from his experiences. We had long chats about the good old times when he worked for the forces. I would also like to thank Anne-Marie for doing so many experiments for me. The amount of energy she exudes at this age is simply marvelous. I would also like to thank Warre for all his help and support. He has been there from the beginning, whenever I needed help. I would also like to thank Sten and Hilde for their help and support.

I have made so many friends while working at VITO. I would also like to thank Natália Pires Martins and Paola Librandi for the lifelong friendship that we developed while they were here for their internships. They are some of the kindest souls I have ever met. I learned a lot from Paola and Natalia, not only professionally but also personally. I would also like to thank Priscilla Teck for being the silent friend who was always available to help, whenever I needed it. I cannot thank Norka enough for being such a wonderful friend. I have been so busy and focused since she arrived last year, and still, she was somehow able to get the best out of me. I think that our friendship has grown deeper over time, and I will miss our conversations a lot. I would especially like to thank Zdenko for being such a wonderful and outgoing friend. As I told him, meeting him has significantly changed my perception of the people of Belgium. He is one of the most pragmatic and open-hearted people whom I met during my time here. I wish I could spend more time with him. I would also like to thank Chetak Kandaswamy and his family for being such a wonderful friend

I have made so many friends while living in Boeretang. They have changed my approach towards life for ever. The first day I arrived in Boeretang, I was scared to talk to anyone. It was then that I met (almost a Doctor) Saeid Babaei, who has been like a brother to me for the last four years. We have had so many discussions that he has become a part of my personality. I think that my life today would have been very different if I had not met him. It was during the first week of my arrival that I met (now a Dr.) Chao Yin. He did not understand my thick accent at that time, but I hope that he understands me now (or he has been acting too well that he understands me). He has been like a brother to me, and I have learned a lot from him too. I also met (almost a doctor) Rosa Fucci here, who has treated me like a brother and has taken upon herself to make me appreciate good food and good fashion. Under her supervision, I hope that I have improved a bit. Rosa’s place is where I go when I miss my family. I met (now a Dr.) Dan Chen here, who is also a bundle of energy and one of the sweetest and kindest people I have met. We shared so many trips and meals together, and I got a friend for life. I cannot not mention Mohit Verma, whom I pulled to Belgium. I think I cumulatively spent a year's worth of weekends at his place. I would also like to thank Prashant Dwivedi and Gunjan Kayal who have been like extended families to me. I enjoy every moment of my time with them.

I would also like to thank Dr. Deepak Pant and Dr. Yamini Satyavali for always being there with suggestions, whenever I needed them. Especially during my initial days, their family helped me a lot to feel at home. I would like to thank the Province of Antwerp for funding this Ph.D. This work would not have been possible without their generous support. I would also like to thank VITO for providing me the opportunity to pursue my doctoral research. I really appreciate the resources and the environment that VITO provided me to flourish as an independent researcher. Especially, I would like to thank Peter Vercaemst for being so kind and supportive, whenever I had the opportunity to meet him. I would like to thank the entire LADCA team at the University of Antwerp. While I did not get the opportunity to spend too much time at LADCA, I received every help I ever asked for.

Finally, I would like to thank Professor ?zlem Cizer (KU Leuven), Professor Paivo Kinnunen (University of Oulu), and Professor Tom Breugelmans for being on my Ph.D. jury. I would especially like to thank their patience in reading the thesis and giving me vital comments and suggestions to improve the quality of the thesis. I would also like to thank them for their time in attending my preliminary and public Ph.D. defense.

We become a newer person every moment of every day that we have lived. And the quality of our present self depends on the people we have been with and the situation we have been through. There are so many of my friends and relatives who have contributed to me being what I am today. And I still cringe to think that I cannot mention so many people who have had positive influences on my life. But I would especially like to mention the importance of my time at BITS Pilani, and later on the members of the BITS Alumni community. The friends I made there, and the people I met there still inspire me to do better every day. Moreover, I would also like to thank my friends from CSIR-SERC who always stood by me during the thick and thin times. I spent all my early years in the small town of Gonda, and it is still a part of me. Most of my friends and teachers from there are not on Linkedin, but I wish to thank them anyhow.

Haha... I started with the acknowledgment for my Ph.D. and am now finishing with acknowledging everything that made me what I am. So, I will keep it as it is. I hope that I have many more names to write when I write my next acknowledgement. :)