• Dear Kiranbabu, thank you for the interview. Could you please tell us since when have you been working at the Montanuniversität in Leoben?

I have started working here as a postdoc starting from March 2023.

• So, please introduce yourself and tell us how you felt after getting the confirmation for your postdoc position here in Leoben?

I am Kiran, from southern part of India, particularly from a city named Vizag, a nice coastal city. I grew up there and did my engineering within my own state. Then I moved to do my Master’s faraway from home (still within India, common I can say that as India is big enough) in an institute called IIT Kharagpur. I wanted to explore research and culture outside my own country, so I went to Germany to my Master’s thesis work at RWTH Aachen university with a fellowship programme. Afterwards, I did my Ph.D from Max Planck Institute for Iron Research in Düsseldorf, where I also stayed as a postdoc for a half-year before joining here. While I was searching for a suitable position, I found my present role to work with Ronald Schnitzer, that meets my expertise, interests and capabilities and thus I proceeded to apply for it. It is indeed a great feeling to get confirmed to join here as a researcher, not only w.r.t to active research that is going on here, but also in a beautiful place :-)

• What do you particularly like about doing research? What do you focus on and are there differences between everyday life here and in your home country?

Usually I am a good reader, I enjoy reading. Same thing when I do experiments in lab, looking at the material in much finer scales and correlate with on what we see on rather bulk-level. That fascinates me!

Well I would say less social interactions here than in mytime in India (probably also to do with my poor German language skills haha). In any case I got used to as I basically did my PhD from Germany.

• What is your research topic?

I work on steels, particularly on the influence of certain trace and tramp elements on the steel final products, together with colleagues in our department. Additionally, I have some tasks related to additive manufacturing and hydrogen embrittlement scenarios in steels.

• Do you like to travel? If so, where and why?

Yeah. I like both touristic as well as nature-centered places. Till now I visited France (Paris), Austria (ehrwald tyrol austria, to hike Zugspitze), Netherlands (Amsterdam), Finland (quite a lot of places), Sweden (Stockholm) and Denmark (Copenhagen). Now I want to explore a bit warmer places like Spain and Italy. After some training in some years, I want to hike Mont Blank some time in future lol!

• How and what do you like about the city of Leoben?

City is surrounded by small hills which is what I love about the city. I also love the fact that most of the stuff are within walkable distance and everything is available within the city without needing to go outside...

• What three tips would you give exchange students?

1. Try not to make basic mistakes, make new ones!
2. Learn from them! Unlearn and relearn!
3. Don’t hesistate to ask others when you don’t know what to do or how to do :-)