My motivation for space started early on. I remember the last time comet Halley was visiting us, in 1986. When I was looking at the sky, it was a strong feeling to imagine the Giotto spacecraft cruising close to it says Dr. Grison. I guess I always had a clear motivation to become a scientist. Yet, my career in this field was not linear:  I first obtained a degree in engineering and worked as an engineer in an electric company. It was a big challenge to quit this conformable position and redo studies to become a scientist.

Still, I felt that in space science there would be more opportunities for me than in other fields. So, in order to maximize the probability of success of this major career change, I had to plan in advance exactly which degree(s) and career path I should follow to become a scientist.

 I study the electromagnetic waves and their interaction with the surrounding plasma. I concentrate on studies of low frequency waves (around 1Hz) and their interaction with the ions (mainly protons but also He+, He++ or O+). What is of great interest is that space physics permits the best observations of these phenomena that are difficult to reproduce in labs”.

In the MAARBLE project I am involved in two tasks: The preparation of datasets involving e.g. electromagnetic wave polarization parameters observed by the Cluster [1] mission and the analysis of these datasets in order to improve our knowledge of these waves. In the future I plan to focus on the in situ observations of triggered EMIC emissions, using data from various missions. These waves have been observed in situ for the first time in 2010.

I strongly believe that for talented and motivated young scientists it is always possible to develop a successful career! The talent is of course a good thing, but nowadays you also need to show a very high level of motivation. One should be ready to work abroad for a long time.

If I was to give advice to young people who would like to follow a career in space science I would say that the most important thing is to like what you do. However, you also need to be realistic. It is important to balance between these two aspects and at some point it might be better to choose the path that offers the most opportunities, than to only focus on the domain that you dream about. Maybe my most valuable advice would be: never miss an opportunity!

[1] The Cluster mission is part of an international collaboration, aiming to investigate the Sun-Earth connection. It is studying the Earth’s magnetosphere and its interaction with the solar wind in three dimensions, collecting the most detailed data yet on small-scale changes in near-Earth space. It is constituted of four identical spacecraft flying in a tetrahedral configuration with separation distances varying between 600 km and 20000 km. They were all launched during the year 2000, with an expected mission lifetime of 16 years. Each of the four spacecraft carries an identical set of 11 instruments to investigate charged particles, electrical and magnetic fields.

[2] STAFF (Spatio-Temporal Analysis of Field Fluctuation) is one of the five complementary experiments which form the Wave Experiment Consortium. STAFF detects waves in the regions of interaction between the solar wind and the Earth’s magnetosphere. The low-frequency waves are analysed on the ground, whereas the high frequency waves are processed on board.

Eleni Chatzichristou

MAARBLE Outreach Team