My name is Akshat Singhal, I was born in Delhi, India. I recently joined the GraWIToN project (November 2015) as a Data Analyst in Continuous Gravitational Waves. My work, in essence, is to look at the data coming from the detectors and analyse whether or not it contains a gravitational wave; and, if yes, its origin.
I graduated with an M.Sc. in Mathematics and Scientific Computing from Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur. Although I have little formal training in Physics or Engineering, I have a great passion for astronomy, especially stargazing. During my undergraduate studies, I was overseeing the construction of Asia’s first student build planetarium, including a 14-inch astronomical observatory. It was only after that I decided to pursue a PhD in Physics. I joined the newly established Gran Sasso Science Institute in L’Aquila, Italy, for my coursework. L’Aquila is a small town 120km from Rome.
View from Government building near GSSI
It is a beautiful place, commonly known for its skiing tourism and of course the Gran Sasso Laboratory. The work environment is very student friendly here. I occasionally visit the University of Rome, where I will be working with my group once I finish my coursework. There I meet some of the finest mind in this field and learn more about my work. The working environment is more or less the same there, but the city is very different. Rome is a majestic city, it is both reminiscent of ancient cities with its beautiful monuments, and has a flavour of modern cities. Often we have GraWIToN conferences where we get to travel and meet other GraWIToN students. It was one of the nicest time I’ve had, learning stuff and interacting with some wonderful researchers.
Other than typing keys and changing light pattern on the screen (programming), I enjoy dancing and star gazing. I was fortunate to get a glimpse of a rare event, Transit of Mercury, from L’Aquila, but for any astronomers’ nightmare it was also accompanied by dark clouds.
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