'At least in Belgium I had a few Brazilian friends but in Germany I was on my own. Thrice I went to the same bar in Hagen and did not make any human contact,' she laughs. 'When I had to choose between Germany and the Netherlands for pursuing a PhD, I was only too glad to choose the Netherlands. When I was working in Germany, it was almost a month before one of my colleagues said 'Guten Morgen' to me! So I know I made the right decision in coming here. I have many friends here, each of a different nationality. They are very important to me.
'The only thing that I dislike about Netherlands is the paperwork. The number of letters I sent to get a refund of ten euros! I definitely spent more on the postage. Another strange thing is paying for carrier-bags in supermarket. In Brazil, you can take as many as you want for free!', she exclaims.
Jaqueline is currently in the second year of her PhD, Department of Applied Mathematics, EEMCS. 'My project is entitled 'Transparent-Influx Boundary Conditions', and will help to model the performance of small optical devices. Because a computer can only handle a limited number of computations, one has to restrict the physical domain in which a simulation takes place. This so-called computational window has boundaries that cause undesirable effects. If, for example, a ray of light is introduced to the object in the window opaque boundaries will reflect the light. This unwelcome interaction with the boundaries can be avoided if the boundaries are made transparent. The project's resulting software will become a simulation tool for the design of actual new devices.'
Jaqueline has a Master's in pure mathematics from University of Campinas. 'I was not very happy after my Master's because I wanted to see application of my work', she says. That landed her in Germany where she worked as a scientific co-worker at FernUniversitõt. 'My work there really satisfied me and hence I decided to continue in the field.'
So what is she looking forward to most in 2004? 'My mother's visit to Netherlands in April! I gave her the ticketàthis will be her first time out of Brazil. I have been in Europe for three years now and this will the first time anyone from my family will be visiting me. So really, it is a gift to me'.
Hometown: Pinhalao, in the state of Parana
Languages known: Portuguese, some German & Spanish, English
Favourite food: Indian and Arabic
Favourite music: Bach and American pop music
Favourite movie: Peter Sellers' movies
Best part of living in NL: able to have a social life
Worst part of living in NL: the food hence had to learn to cook (which I don't like)
