Joining SONDRA has profoundly shaped my doctoral journey. From the moment I began my thesis on complex-valued deep generative modeling for SAR applications, the SONDRA team supported my growth—challenging me scientifically while always looking out for my well-being. This balance has empowered me to set—and achieve—ambitious goals throughout my PhD.

Just six months into my program, I published my first paper at the RADAR2024 Conference, demonstrating how a complex-valued convolutional autoencoder can preserve polarimetric properties during reconstruction. That work was later invited for extension in IET Radar, Sonar & Navigation. At the same time, I connected with Teck Yian Lim at DSO Research. Together, we adapted his shift-equivariant convolutional neural network methods to the complex domain, and we expect to present our joint findings at a premier deep learning conference later this year.

My collaborations in Singapore extend beyond this project. During a month-long exchange at IPAL Laboratory, I explored synergies between my expertise and CNRS researcher Benoît Cottereau’s work. We discovered that complex-valued neural networks could mimic neuronal synchrony—a phenomenon that unlocks self-supervised object discovery through phase information. I’m now supervising Johanna Rondony, who is pursuing this line of research for her PhD.

I’m deeply grateful for my time at SONDRA. The rigorous training, the international collaborations, and the culture of support have given me a rock-solid scientific foundation and a global network of colleagues—assets that I know will propel my future career as a researcher.

I am Dr. Pasumarthi Babu Sree Harsha pursued my Postdoctoral research in SONDRA from 2022 -2024. I worked on the challenges of Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) and Global Navigation Satellite systems with atmospheric distortions. I had a great welcome in SONDRA with cheerful colleagues and a positive mindset. I have developed a new way of research capability to be productive, efficient and qualitative understanding of the problem. SONDRA has a different position in balancing academics and industrial research problems. I had a great time in SONDRA with beautiful memories. One can find their open-minded time for the thought in solving the research problems. I had found excellent professional support to discuss my thoughts, present and publish them with the International scientific community through SONDRA. With the collaboration with peers from DSO, as a researcher I understand the requirements from both parties from France and Singapore. I highly recommend SONDRA as a great research lab to consider if one wants to explore deep tech research problems with global exposure.

I am incredibly grateful to have been part of the SONDRA laboratory for the past three years. Specializing in RADAR applications, SONDRA has provided me with an environment rich in advanced research, particularly in electromagnetic modelling and radar imaging. These experiences have profoundly shaped my PhD journey, especially in the context of through-the-wall radar imaging. One of the highlights of my time at the laboratory was the opportunity to collaborate internationally. I spent two months at the National University of Singapore in November and December 2023, working on real-time applications and hardware systems closely aligned with my thesis. This invaluable experience enhanced my technical skills and broadened my perspective by engaging with leading experts in the field. Throughout these three years, SONDRA has enabled me to present my work at conferences worldwide, exchanging knowledge with other researchers and staying updated on the latest advancements. It is also a group of colleagues who create a supportive environment where you can always find help, encouragement and great moments. This sense of camaraderie has made the challenges of research much more rewarding.

None of this would have been possible without the laboratory's support, mentorship, and resources. So one more time, thank you SONDRA, for your continuous support and being an essential part of my journey.

I am Steve Tyler, a graduate from Sri Lanka, and currently working on an inverse scattering problem in SAR images as a Ph.D. student at SONDRA/ONERA. I had the good fortune of joining SONDRA which is a well-equipped lab with a vibrant environment and with the abundant presence of brilliant pedagogic and administrative members who are well-integrated with the rest of the radar community. The members in SONDRA are very welcoming and open-minded when it comes to discussions on research and scientific exploration, and hence, you can find thesis and internship projects spanning from theoretical to very applied topics being posted all year round. Because of the affiliation between SONDRA and ONERA, I am able to collaborate closely with the Electromagnetism and Radar department (DEMR) in Palaiseau and get to visit the airborne SAR acquisition unit SETHI in Salon-de-Provence, where I also get to see the exciting drills of Patrouille de France.