I haven’t written in a while, a lot has happened! I’ve started a new life chapter in Ljubljana, Slovenia, as part of the Marie Skłodowska-Curie PhD network Datavysts, with my host institution being the Jožef Stefan Institute. My project here focuses on building trustworthy AI tools to increase political participation.
Even though I’ve been here less than a month, everything has been great so far. One of my biggest fears was loneliness, moving somewhere new without knowing anyone. But that fear turned out to be unnecessary. In just a couple of weeks, I met so many amazing people, grabbed a beer or food (or both) with many of them, and somehow, even as someone who’s not very social, my social life is thriving.
Of course, I didn’t come here just to socialize, I came to grow as a researcher. The Jožef Stefan Institute has been an unbelievable upgrade compared to my previous jobs. The working conditions, the people, and the overall research environment are inspiring. I get to talk with brilliant researchers, learn about their work, and even join some experiments.
I’ll try to write more often about my research and life here, though I can’t promise consistency, as my schedule is getting packed. But I’ll do my best to share what this journey is teaching me.
If there’s one thing I’ve learned so far, it’s this: life can get better but only if you refuse to give up and invest the effort to change things, especially when you least feel like it.
Živijo!