Finland Fellowship provided seven months of funding for Joaquín during his Ph.D studies

Could you tell a bit about yourself and your background? 

I am an electrical engineer and completed my master’s in power systems in my home country, Chile. After that, I worked for three years in a consultancy firm related to the energy and sustainability sector. Then, I decided that I wanted to study again. I started looking for Ph.D. opportunities. I found Aalto and the program at the System Analysis Laboratory. I have been here for almost two years, working with risk analysis applied to distribution grids and other types of networks.

What made Aalto interesting from your perspective?

I had a lot of time to look for a program. I wanted to come to Europe and do something with mathematics. My background is in electrical engineering, but I was working with optimization models. I have always liked mathematics and wanted to deepen my knowledge about it. Then I found Aalto and the programme was very nice. I started reading about Aalto and the university has a good position in the international rankings. Finland is also a well-known country and the life quality and life standards here are good.

Has the Finland Fellowship had any positive impact on your studies? 

Yes, because the original funding from my department was for two years. The other two years are coming from my supervisor’s projects. The Finland Fellowship complements the second funding for seven months. They also gave me a relocation grant of two thousand euros, which was super useful because I had to cover some expenses.

Would you like to tell a little bit about your research?

I am doing risk analysis. We are trying to apply in the energy sector. My first project was about reinforcing distribution grids in the face of external hazards. Nowadays, we are working in a more generic type of network. These networks represent critical infrastructure, such as transportation systems. We are developing methodologies to evaluate these systems' resilience and improve their performance based on different metrics. To do this, we consider various scenarios that can degrade the systems and evaluate different portfolios of reinforcement actions.

How has the process of adapting to Finland been?

I didn’t know anyone living here before I moved and hadn't had the chance to visit the country either. I expected it to be hard, especially from what I had read about the lack of light during winter and that people were not social. Fortunately, I really liked Finland. I would say that Finns are more introverted compared to my culture, but they are super nice and friendly people. Aalto is a multicultural environment, and I have got plenty of friends from different countries. Finland is also clean, well-organized and everything works here.

How would you describe the working culture at Aalto?

I think Aalto is a nice place to work because there’s respect in the community. I can feel that. I also feel that the work and life balance in Finland is super nice compared to other places I have been working. The people are collaborative and helpful, and the working culture is flexible. You can work at the university or remotely, but I prefer to come to the office because we have a nice atmosphere.

What future plans do you have?

I don’t know yet. But before my Ph.D. studies, I worked in a consultancy firm, having projects in the private and public sectors. I really liked it. I also like academia, so I think I will try to find a job that allows me to work in both sectors.

Applying for the Finland Fellowship

Aalto University awards Finland Fellowships to doctoral students as part of a national scholarship programme funded by the Ministry of Education and Culture. The programme runs from 2022 to 2024. Finland Fellowships can be applied for at the same time when applying for doctoral studies, and they are awarded to those applicants from Africa, Central or South America who rank best according to academic criteria in the admissions process. In 2024, the Finland Fellowships are granted for 12 months. More information on Finland Fellowships for doctoral students.