Everybody Provided me with Support and Inspiration to Become a Scientist

My favorite subjects at the primary and secondary school were physics and mathematics, because they are based on logic and they help us understand the individual laws and processes in the world. We also had great teachers.  My favorite part of the physics was optics, magnetism and of course I enjoyed those parts about the universe and stars, because I was born and lived in the mountains, where the starry night's sky was much brighter and more breathtaking than in cities. I liked a lot the classes in which we performed experiments. We had a lot of fun with them. I have attended several physics seminars, which were led by students from Prague. I liked their enthusiasm for science. They inspired me to study physics at the Faculty of Mathematics and Physics at the Charles University in Prague. During my first year at the university one of my teachers inspired my friend and me to start working on a student research project on plasma waves and processes in the Earth's magnetosphere.  I continued working on this subject and this teacher eventually became my PhD thesis advisor.

My family, especially my mom and dad supported me during the whole study; they gave me a lot of love and motivation. My boyfriend and all my great classmates gave me a lot of support and fun. All professors, teachers and everyone whom I met, especially my thesis advisor, gave me a lot of helpful advices, inspiration, and background for my study and my student research; they helped me during all years when I was at the university. I think that I really had a great luck, because I had an opportunity to work with a team of great people during my whole study.

Science is Like a Large Puzzle

My first experience related to space science was working with the data of the Cluster spacecraft mission. We have identified different types of plasma waves (chorus, plasmaspheric hiss, auroral hiss and equatorial noise). I really enjoy working with real data from spacecraft missions. I’m interested in whistler-mode chorus waves which play an important role in the dynamics of the outer radiation belt. Chorus emission consists of exciting discrete wave packets. When I was browsing those data I have found a lot of unusual and extraordinary events. I like these extraordinary events and the large variability of chorus and banded emissions. Whenever I start feeling bored, visual inspection of data always gives me a new dose of inspiration.

Collaboration, discussions with other scientists and colleagues, participation in scientific conferences and listening to talks about new scientific discoveries motivate me a lot and give me satisfaction. I like all parts of my research. I will definitely recommend other students to become scientists, because being a scientist is great. You have the opportunity to find something interesting yourself or your results can help others to understand. Science is a large puzzle.

You will also have a great opportunity to meet interesting people with similar interests, as well as to learn a lot from the other scientists, sometimes also from younger colleagues with a lot of skills. All these people can give you a lot of ideas, inspiration and motivation. It is great to have a job that you enjoy doing.

Eleni Chatzichristou

MAARBLE Outreach Team