The Long and Winding Road

Dear Joris

I'm glad to inform you that you have been approved the award of the degree of PhD.

And so the road that commenced exactly (well, exactly this Saturday) four years ago, has come to an end. (And I finally get to tick that box "Dr.")

For the die-hard amongst you, the final copy can be found here. For the less hard-core supporters, I've copied the only section you might be interested in, below - the non-scientific part of the acknowledgements, that is.

At Swinburne as in Sydney, work only goes so far in turning “survival” into “life”. Luckily there were many friends along the way, some long gone, others just arrived, who provide some comic relief to give my brain the occasional rest. Thanks therefore to my housemates: Simon, Nadia, Meg, Paul, Elaine, Thomas and Lenneke for introducing me to the best TV series I know and for the discussions and insights in subjects as varied as sub-atomic physics, Australian culture and German cuisine (though mostly sub-atomic physics). Thanks also to my fellow students and office-mates (both in Swinburne and at the ATNF): Xiao Peng, Trevor, Tim, Sarah, Paul, Nick, Natasha, Meredith, Max² , Lina, Lee, Kathryn, Jeremy, Haydon, Emily, Emil, Daniel, Chris, Caroline, Berkeley, Annie, Anneke, Andy, Alyson, Albert, Adrian and Adam for both encouraging and preventing procrastination, for lunch and dinner, for the Age Superquiz, for telling me more than I needed to hear about AFL and rugby. For poker, movies, music. For drinks and laughter. For taking me seriously, but not too seriously. For camping and hikes. For sleep-deprived comedy at 4am in the Parkes control room. And for pointing out the obvious. Apart from housemates and fellow students, the frisbee crowd provided me with an energy release that money cannot buy. Thanks for putting up with my galloping across your field, guys.

Last but not least, thanks to the people I’ve been neglecting most of all: my father, who predicted twenty years ago that I’ll become a particle physicist; my mother, who keeps on defying the Universe in her claim that Australia is a long way from Belgium; and my siblings, Kathleen & Maarten, who are in their own way close while distant. It’s the four of you - and the eighteen years I’ve lived with you in Belgium, that have provided me with the dauntless international vision that brought me to the other end of the world and with the scientific intrigue that made me want to understand the Universe and, above all, gravity.

So yeah, thanks for a couple of great years, people. As much as I'm relieved the writing is behind my back, I'm still sorry those times are past...