PhDone: 3 years in numbers
A few days ago, I defended my PhD and formally closed a chapter that lasted a little over three years.
From the outside, a PhD is often summarized in a few numbers: papers, citations, conferences, a thesis PDF. From the inside, it is mostly drafts that don’t quite work, experiments that need to be redesigned, reviews that force you to rethink your assumptions, and small improvements that accumulate almost invisibly.
At some point along the way, I started tracking the process. Not just the final outputs, but the in-between: code written, drafts iterated, submissions, decisions, timelines. Partly curiosity, partly a way to make sense of the chaos.
That turned into a small dashboard I called PhDone:
https://mhackiori.github.io/phdone/
It’s not meant to reduce the experience to metrics. If anything, it shows how much of research is iteration and persistence.
Thesis acknowledgements
This work would not have been possible without the support of many people. First and foremost, I would like to thank my supervisor, Prof. Mauro Conti. I still remember the exact conversation we had when I was a Master’s student that convinced me to apply for a PhD position. Looking back, it proved to be one of the best choices, and his encouragement at that time was decisive. Over these years, I deeply appreciated the constant guidance, the numerous opportunities, and the freedom to explore diverse research directions. I would also like to thank Bluewind S.r.l. for their financial support and the fruitful collaboration throughout this journey.
A special thanks also goes to Prof. Marco Pavone, who gave me the wonderful opportunity to work at Stanford and whose insights and support made that experience especially enriching. I would also like to thank all the people and VSRs at ASL who made that journey so enjoyable: Chris, Hugo, Matt, Daniele, Milan, Pranit, Dan, Luis, Rohan, Kim, Clemens, Patrick, Max, Lukas, and Paul. I hope you were able to decipher my (not so) hidden encrypted message made out of coffee tins. If not, see the figure below.
Although my stay was brief, I am very grateful to Prof. Jacques Klein for giving me the opportunity to visit the University of Luxembourg. I would also like to thank everyone at the lab who made those weeks so enjoyable. In particular, I am thankful to Marco A., with whom I shared countless existential crises, peak anime recommendations, and Bello Figo’s lyrics. A special thanks as well for all the ``uncle pears'' that lightened the mood and made many PhD hardships a little less unpleasant.
Speaking of labmates, I would like to thank all my colleagues from the office, whose name evolved over time from "the stable" to "7D4"", but which will always remain "731". Although thanking each of you individually would make this already lengthy dissertation even longer, I cannot help but mention a few: Luca P. for his early guidance on my very first (literally) dumb project; Federico for his competitiveness during lab breaks; Pier Paolo for recognizing the true struggles of a PhD student (i.e., platinuming all From Software games); Gabriele for enduring every "That’s what she said" joke, and Denis for fueling them whenever I was spacing out; Tommaso for the many BBQs (and conditioners) shared in Seoul; Shuo for every celebratory "giro di Grappa"; Alessandro L. for introducing me to the Grand Line; Prof. Eleonora for bringing me into 731 when I did not even know what it was; Prof. Alessandro B. for the many discussions on Tool and Dream Theater time signatures; Prof. Alessandro G. for being an invaluable resource for thesis supervisions; and Stefano for coming to the rescue when I was swapping unreasonable amounts of memory. To everyone else I could not list here, thank you for the many quarter-kilo pasta meals at Agostino and the spritzes we shared, which truly honored our research group’s name.
During these three years, I was fortunate to have the support of many friends who have known me far longer. A heartfelt thanks goes to my former colleagues Miriam, Elia, Luca M., and Wiz, with whom I shared countless hours of study and unforgettable graduation parties. I am especially grateful to Alessandro P. and Filippo, with whom I shared innumerable Mezzi e Mezzi and who were always there in both the best and the hardest moments of this journey. Another special thanks goes to the Gneiss group, Gianmaria, Lando, and Mazz. It feels almost absurd to be thanking you here, since 13 years ago, I would never have imagined pursuing a PhD. Yet through all those years, you have always been there. Finally, I would like to thank Nicola, who has always shown genuine excitement for every achievement of mine, and for the many spontaneous (and way too long) car trips to kebabs or random events.
One of the biggest and most heartfelt thanks goes to my wonderful parents. Even if I show it less often than I should, I am deeply grateful for all the sacrifices you have made for me over these past 26 years. This long and probably incomprehensible piece of paper will never compensate for everything you have done for me, but I hope it makes you proud. I would also like to thank my grandparents, for whom our weekly Saturday meetings became such a cherished habit. Even though I still struggle to explain what I actually do for work, your support has always been unwavering, and for that I am truly grateful. Finally, to my whole family, too many to list here one by one, thank you for always giving me the warmth I needed.
And finally, to my beautiful partner, Giada. Words cannot even begin to describe the amount of love, gratitude, and admiration I have for you. This is the second thesis where your name deserves to stand in bold next to mine, as you were always by my side for every fight that I had with unresponsive code, failed experiments, or myself. Thank you for listening patiently when I needed to explain ultra-technical details that no one else wanted to hear, and for celebrating with me every wonderful moment of this journey. You were the one checking on me during sleepless working nights, the one celebrating each achievement, and the one pushing me forward whenever I felt like giving up. Now that this journey has come to an end, I am certain we will remember these years as some of the best we have shared together.
