Acknowledgments
And now for something completely different...
No single person is responsible for a thesis. Any thesis is a combined effort, not only of
the people that strive for its scientific integrity but also of those that look after the well-being
and mental sanity of the PhD student in question.
First and foremost, I would like to thank Peter Barthel, for giving me the opportunity
to work on such an interesting project and for providing the scientific support that made
this thesis possible. Thanks also to my promotor Thijs van der Hulst for useful scientific
discussions and especially for the support in the last part of this work. I am very grateful
to my co-promotor Luis Ho for his useful suggestions, which helped to enrich the content
of this thesis. Thanks also to Paul Goudfrooij for the chance to do some interesting HST
work. I would like to acknowledge the reading committee – Bob Sanders, Ger Bruyn and
Heino Falcke – for having the patience to read this thesis and also for providing insightful
comments. I wish also to thank my closer scientific collaborators – Filippo Fraternali, Neil
Nagar, Sera Markoff and Feng Yuan - for speadily reading the paper drafts and for your
valuable contribution.
Four years is a long time in someone’s life. I would like to thank the people who have
made my stay memorable and...fun.
A warm thanks to the new PhDs and visitors – Jo, Katarina, Mirela, Bruno, Ferry, Michiel,
Miguel, Pablo and Fabrice. Perhaps we will meet again another time. A big thanks to all the
undergraduates in their small fishtanks, in particular to Peter #1, Peter #2, Niels, Erwin, Edo
and Liesbeth.
I am grateful also to many people who have already left the Kapteyn Institute, in pursuit
of greener pastures. Els and Jan, I wish you the best of luck on the other side of the ocean.
Thanks also to Ilse, Jacquie, Wilfred, Inigo, Jorge and Isa, Henk, Diah, Laura, Jocelyn, Adwin, Enzo and Hanadi. I hope our paths cross again someday.
I also want to thank and wish the best of luck to those that stay behind – Cesar and
Lourdes, Bjorn, Roelof, Emilio, Eric, Rense, Michiel, Nissim, Nasser, Edo, Ole, Marco, Jean
Pierre, Nicola, Neil, Phillipe, Andrew and Eline. ScAATTT, you may call me Your Evilness.
Thanks for making the Institute a fun place to work.
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Acknowledgments
Henrik, now that I am gone you will have to find another Ruby Wax substitute. Hans,
you strange German...Who is going to embarrass me now in public? Perhaps you...in
Bologna...Keep up the good hygiene. Leti, Jelte and Phil... You were my companions in
many adventures, or shall I say partners in crime. Leti and Jelte...an Italian car, a mad Dutch
driver, a confused Spaniard and a lazy Portuguese somewhere lost in the middle of Germany...Need I say more? Leti, thank you for the Saturday afternoons in town, for the movies
and for being generally optimistic and a great friend. I have missed you. Jelte, thank you for
the companionship, for the adventures, for your good nature and for always being reliably
late. I look forward to you starring as the next Jelte de Bond. Phil, I am indebted to you. You
have introduced me to the marvelous world of movie making and music, to chess, to wine.
Thank you for your frankness and for reminding me not to take myself so seriously. One day
I hope to see your name on the big screen. Long live Leeuwarden and the Libellen! Annette,
you have been the closest thing to a sister I have ever had. I wish you the best of luck in
Munich and please...don’t forget João Alves! Rosie, you had the courage to do what was best
for you and I will always respect that. Thank you for your gentle and sensible nature. You
have always put things in perspective for me. A big thanks also to Freddie and Albert for
those long afternoon email sessions that kept me so entertained and kept me from working.
To my office and flatmates...Guisy, I knew you only a short while, but you and Phil have
taught me more about THE GAME than anyone else! Good luck and I hope to see you soon.
Alex, thanks for the patient and the compreehensive ear. Steph, the house was never quite
the same without you. Remember the long, lazy evenings on the couch? Thanks for your
friendship and your easy going nature. You have always been able to say the funniest things
in the strangest but most needed moments. Jero, how did we ever manage to work together
and also share a flat without killing each other? It’s been an experience. Thanks for your
good disposition, your easy going nature and...the Playstation. Thanks also to Mirjam, who
became part of our disfunctional family. When you are rich and famous, please do not forget
your friends!
Last but not least...
Os meus agradecimentos aos amigos portugueses, espalhados pelo mundo. Ana, foram
quatro anos de convivência na faculdade. Agora, apesar da distância, conseguimos sempre
manter o contacto. Obrigado pela amizade. Joana e Jacco, obrigado por me terem recebido
em vossa casa nos momentos mais difı́ceis. Vocês são a prova que contradiz a minha teoria.
Nelo e Peixe...vocês devem ser os dois tipos mais loucos que eu conheço. Nelo, conseguiste
fazer-me rir às gargalhadas com a tua má educação e indisposição. Limpa o gabinete e espera
lá por mim! Peixe, a tua vida dava um filme e os teus emails davam um livro. A tua insanidade
manteve-me sã mesmo quando o resto do mundo queria manter-me sóbria. Belinha, não sei
que faria sem ti. As nossas conversas virtuais davam uma telenovela mexicana. Não sei
como me aturas. Migas, nunca ninguém me chamou morcona como tu. Tratas-me tão mal
mas contı́nuo a gostar de ti. Um abraço especial para o Muffino e também para o Migas,
que fizeram um trabalho fantástico com a capa desta tese. LP (a.k.a. Luis Can-I-Scare-You),
és uma das pessoas que eu mais admiro, apesar de te achar louco por teres feito um MBA.
Realista, são, foste sempre dos poucos capaz de me dizer aquilo que precisava de ouvir e não
aquilo que queria ouvir. Obrigado por estares sempre disposto a ouvir as minhas reclamaç ões.
Não podia deixar de agradecer a toda a minha familia – avó, tios, tias, primos e primas –
Acknowledgments
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que continuam sem perceber patavina do que faço na vida. Apesar de todos os meus esforços,
continuam a pensar que algum dia irei apresentar a meteorologia no jornal das nove. Não,
não sou meterologista nem astróloga. Se bem que era capaz de ganhar mais dinheiro...
Por fim, gostaria de agradecer aos meus pais por toda a paciência e apoio incondicional.
Desde o momento em que pedi o maldito telescópio (que nunca cheguei a receber), eles suspeitaram que algo de muito errado ia acontecer comigo. E aconteceu...tornei-me astr ónoma.
Obrigado. Sem vocês, esta tese seria uma obra impossı́vel. Um grande beijo à minha pequena
Inês...escondendo as lágrimas, deixaste-me partir, sem julgar e sem culpas.
Finally, I am grateful to the Kapteyn Institute staff. A thank you, in particular, to Jackie,
Greta, and Hennie for patiently answering all my questions and doubts. Thanks to Wim and
Eite for putting up with all my computer hysterics. Did you notice there is a laptop missing
from the Institute? Georg, I will not be able to say ‘Bom Dia!’ anymore but I will teach you
something else in Portuguese – Adeus e Boa Sorte!
I would like to acknowledge the Ubbo Emmius Scholarship program at the Rijksuniversiteit Groningen, the Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia, the Kapteyn Institute and the
Leids Kerkhoven Bosscha Fonds (LKBF) for their financial support during this PhD research.
Mercedes E. Filho, Groningen, March 2003