Demo

Abstract

viii large have to face. Still, when I joined, it felt like a small group of people that were excited to research and push the borders of knowledge, always laughing, joking, going to Piratas Rock Wey for lunch (the best restaurant in Madrid) and attending table tennis tournaments. I even won one of those! (I did technically not, but I got a T-shirt, which is nice). The coffee breaks, the memes, the discussions... Will be with me forever. Special thanks to all the people from IMDEA and Comunidad de Madrid that helped me with my communication activities, a not so valued part of the research life that I believe is one of the paths to bring science to society.The second group is the people from La Caixa scholarship. Getting the La Caixa grant was not only good for the monetary appraisal itself (although that was not bad) but also because of the people I met. The annual retreats that we did were a breath of fresh air where I could interact with non-engineer scientists, which is surprisingly tricky when you are an engineer. My admiration and love for them are immeasurable. And of course, to the people from La Caixa organization itself, they treated us way better than what I would have expected in the best of my dreams.As an honorable mention, I should thank all the people that I interacted with in University of Uppsala, Sweden. Coming from a mediterranean country, their warm hearts compensated the cold climatology.Of course, thank you to my girlfriend, my family, and friends to support me when I was not in my best moments and for celebrating with me the sweetest of my victories. This thesis is yours too.Finally, to anyone reading this starting its Ph.D.: the thesis is longer than it looks.Once you start, there are no breaks until you defend it or drop it, so try to find your pace, do not rush for an ending that is too far. Deadlines come and go, but your mental health is yours only. Take care of it; take care of yourself.