“The level of research at IMDEA Networks is quite high”

Why, what, how and where: an alumna takes stock of her experience as a predoctoral researcher at IMDEA Networks

13 March 2025

We interview one of the members of our Alumni Network, Dr. Nina Grosheva. She obtained her PhD from IMDEA Networks and Universidad Carlos III de Madrid back in March 2024. Her thesis was “Efficient Network Control for Large and Highly Dense Millimeter Wave Deployments”.

During her time at the institute, she was part of the Wireless Networking group, led by Joerg Widmer. Her research interests are millimeter wave networking, network simulation (ns-3), and performance analysis.

Why did you decide to pursue a PhD?

When I was doing my master’s thesis, I chose a research-oriented topic, and unlike most of my friends, I enjoyed looking at implementing new things, trying to figure out what the results would be, why they are like they are. I like the whole research process quite a lot. So, I decided it would be a good idea to continue with that.

What would you highlight about your time as a PhD Student at IMDEA Networks?

Writing a paper for a top-tier conference and developing that project was a highly rewarding experience. I’m very proud of that work, how it was done, and the whole process of coming up with the topic you want to work on and how to develop it. Also, being a part of the community here. IMDEA Networks is a special place, I think people are very friendly. I met some of my closest friends here, so it was a very nice experience.

Do you feel your time at IMDEA Networks prepared you well for your professional career?

I think the level of research at IMDEA Networks is quite high. The challenge of being a PhD student is that you have to do a lot of different things, but the good thing is that you can experiment and work on a variety of skills and find out what you like to do and what you don’t like to do, what you are good at and what you are not good at. Working with Joerg Widmer, who was my supervisor, allowed me to see how he thinks about research and research problems, and I learned a lot from him.

Have you moved into industry, academia, or the research sector?

I still don’t have my next place, but I would like to get more into the research part of the industry because I think the topics are a little bit different, and I want to see if I like it more or not. I don’t have a clear picture for the rest of my career, but that’s the next step I want to take.