Our 1-month secondment at Friedrich Alexander University Erlangen-Nuremberg (FAU) was a wonderful experience. We learned a lot from everybody at the Chair of Applied Dynamics. Working on discrete mechanics of beams was very useful for our individual projects in THREAD and all the discussions we had with the scientific staff at FAU were very valuable for us as young researchers. 

We did not only have a fruitful time doing research, but we also had a great time outside the university.  We were lucky that during our stay at Erlangen, the COVID19 restrictions were relaxed because of a decrease in the number of cases.  ESR10 Martina Stavole showed us around Erlangen and introduced us to new friends and colleagues. Socializing a bit after a long stressful time with COVID19 around was very much needed. We found Erlangen to be very bicycle-friendly and enjoyed a lot riding through the city and the surroundings. 

We also got to see some nearby cities in Bavaria on weekends and enjoyed doing that. It was the first time for me, Ergys, visiting Germany and I'm very impressed. For me, Andrea, it was also an occasion to test my German language skills, as I studied it some years ago. We both are looking forward to coming back to Germany next year for our secondments at ITWM (Andrea) and MLU (Ergys) and learn more about our research topics and Germany as well.

We would like to thank Professor Sigrid Leyendecker and all the team at the Chair of Applied Dynamics for their availability and their scientific and technical support.

Contributed by Andrea Leone (ESR 4) and Ergys Çokaj (ESR 5)