Stefanie's defense! 🎓

🎓 The defense: all ins and outs

Defending your PhD thesis is mainly a ceremonial affair. In that ceremony, I will be questioned about my dissertation by a committee of academics. Throughout the question round, I am supported by my paranymphs. This part is the actual thesis defense, and I would love it if you were able to join for this (do not worry about the number of spots: there are always plenty).

After 45 minutes, the beadle (a kind of master of ceremonies) enters. They call out "Hora finita," which means that the questioning is finished. At that moment, the committee, my paranymphs, and I leave the room. A little later we will all return, and I will officially receive my degree.

The second part of the day is the reception: this is a small get-together held in the academy buildig itself. Usually, a significant part of the reception is spent standing in line to congratulate the recent PhD graduate and having a few drinks. After that, there is possibly a short speech by someone from the institute. The reception usually lasts about an hour. After the reception, there is a dinner for people travelling in from afar and people involved in the ceremony, and we will end the day with the party. More about that later!

🎓 Some practical tips

The ceremony starts at 14:30. At that moment the door closes, and it is guarded throughout the ceremony (I sadly know this from experience). So really make sure you are on time!
The ceremony takes place in the auditorium ("aula"); if you enter through the main entrance of the academy building, you will find it at the top of the big staircase.
Just like in church, the audience will stand up and sit down a few times during the ceremony. Usually, you can just follow along with when the committee does this.
We have scheduled an hour off between the reception and the dinner, so if you are staying in Groningen overnight, you can use that time to check in at your accommodation.
All the locations on the day are close to each other (no more than a 200-meter walk).

📝The program at a glance

When? 16 December at 14:30

When?	What?	Where?
14:30 - ~15:30	The ceremony	The academy building, Aula
~15:30 - ~16:45	The reception	The academy buildig, Spiegelzaal
18:00 - 20:00	The dinner	Restaurant Mr. Mofongo
20:00 - ????	The party!	Bar the Uurwerker

📋 Let me know if you will be there!

Even if you are unable to join, I appreciate you RSVP'ing, so we know for how many people to plan.

📝 Click here!

👩‍🎓 The ceremony

Tuesday December 16 at 14:30

Academy building
Broerstraat 5, 9712 CP Groningen

📺 Live stream of the defense

🎉 The party

Tuesday December 16 at 20:00

De Uurwerker
Uurwerkersplein 1, 9712 BH Groningen

🎵 Add your favorite songs to the playlist

Bonus points for tunes with a link to astronomy or PhD life.

🎉 Groningen

📍 Getting there

🚄 Train

Groningen is easily accessible by train, with direct trains from Utrecht and Amsterdam (Zuid). Protip: If you don't have an OV subscription, off-peak group tickets (groepsticket daluren) are usually the most affordable options starting from 2 people. Do you have an off-peak subscription? Then the group ticket is usually cheaper starting from 3 people.

🚗 By car

The best place to park for the academy building is Ossenmarkt Parking Garage. From there it is about a 500-meter walk to both the academy building and the party location. If that is too far to walk, please contact me so we can reserve one of the two disabled parking spaces through the university.

😴 Accommodation

Everything within the canal ring is within walking distance (though sometimes a bit more expensive). I have made a list below of hotels and hostels that have been recommended to me over the years.

Hotel Martini: A simple hotel with good value for money, close to the city center and the train station.
Hotel The Happy Traveler: Cozy hotel in the center with good food and fun common areas.
Hotel Flonk: A good business hotel. When the university hosted guests, they often stayed here.
Hostel Bud Gett: Well, the name says it all: a nice cheap place to stay. Of course, it is a budget option, but I have always heard good things about it.
Hostel Simplon: Cozy hostel just outside the city center, but the next morning you will be right by the Noorderplantsoen for any city walk.
Stee in Stad: Hotel with themed rooms from different countries. That way you can pretend Groningen is abroad after all.

Everything is shown on the map: red are the official locations, green is the station and parking garage, and gray are the hotels.

👫 Paranymphs

During the ceremony (but actually throughout the PhD) I am supported by these two amazing people. Julia and Alex, thank you so much for all your help and support, also with organizing this day ❤️.

Anybody who is not Julia or Alex can ask them any and all questions regarding the day, or let them know if you are planning to say or do something during the party. Even if you are Julia or Alex, you can ask the other person (or look inward).

💬 Would you like to do a speech/game/slideshow?

Let Alex and/or Julia know in advance!

✉️Send a message!

📚 The dissertation

What this whole thing is all about! The thesis (or "booklet") is a collection of papers I have written during my PhD. It also contains both and English and Dutch summary, that I have written to be readable even if you have not spent the last decade obsessing over astronomy. If you would like to take a look, a link to the electronic version will appear below (as soon as the final version is available). You can also request a physical copy in the RSVP form.

📖Towards Optimal Calibration in 21-cm Cosmology with LOFAR

📖 Check out the thesis.
(as soon as it is available)

🎁 Gifts

Your presence at the party is the greatest gift I could hope for of course! If you would, however, like to bring a present as well, an envelope is greatly appreciated. Also, a gift registry will be added to this page in the (somewhat) near future.

I'm going to defend my thesis! 🎉