I joined ESO in July 2001. Until June 2003 I was Instrument Scientist
for EFOSC2 on the 3.6m, whose manual I have rewritten recently (see
News From La Silla). What I like most about my work is the quality of
training received. It is very refreshing to arrive at La Silla every
time to know that I would learn something different but invariably
interesting. The human factor is also important. I really enjoyed the
interactions with the visiting astronomers and to learn about the
science they are doing, and to share the excitement when the data
arrives!

Apart from duties on La Silla, I was a member of the Visiting
Scientist Committee in Santiago. In June 2003 I co-organised a
Workshop on Resolved Stellar Populations in Vitacura.

Since July 2003 I am based in Garching with reduced duty. My research
is concerned with elliptical galaxy formation at different mass scales
from a low-redsift perspective. Although the trend is to go to higher
and higher redshifts, I think that a lot can still be learned from
nearby galaxies.  At the low mass scale I am involved in a ESO Large
Program on the nature of dwarf ellipticals. In the intermediate mass
scale I am comparing galaxy properties in different environments, such
as Kinematically Decoupled Cores and shells which often provide clues
on the past merger history. At the high mass scale I am leading a
collaboration to study the properties of cD galaxy halos. In several
cases we found an outwardly rising velocity dispersion profile which
shows that the stars in the outer parts of cD halos are responding to
the gravity of the cluster as a whole. On an unrelated topic, I am
also participating in an all-sky hunt for Local Group dwarf
galaxies. So far we have found 2 dwarfs, but it seems that there isn't
a big population of dwarfs in the Local Group which have been
predicted in some CDM simulations.

I think that the fellowship program is excellent and I would not
hesitate to recommend it to anyone who considers applying. It has
been fun living in Chile and the experience has been fantastic!