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Luckly I don´t have to make a big research. In Portugal we have Sara Anjos and Pedro Russo, moderators of this course. They are not astronauts but they have important Space related careers. Perfect role models for an interview :)

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Minions in Space!!!
Activity Astronomy for childreen

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I encourage my students to watch astronomy on internet or tv. To discover space and astronomy.

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I encourage my students to look at astronomy in you tube. To discover the Space and Astronomy.,

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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dimitri_Nanopoulos

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To encourage students to studying astronomy, I always started my teaching program talking about Samantha Cristoforetti famous Italian astronaut. I propose some videos relative to her great experience in space and encourage them to read the following book: " The sky forgotten in a trunk "

It is a small book written by a woman, for other women (but not only) tells stories of women. Women in science: in particular women who are dedicated to astronomy. Therefore, women and the sky: perhaps a natural approach but not banal or predictable, as she tells us the physical Gabriella Bernardi, in turn science woman with a passion for science. The book was published a few months after the death of Margherita Hack, perhaps the most famous Italian astronomer and popularize. It is more relevant than ever to tell lightly the report does not always easy between women and science.

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I've been in these years at several scientific appointments; exactly in Frascati (RM) - Incontri di Fisica - about modern physics and i met Catalina Curceanu, and a really motivated group of researchers as well as very good speakers. I met some other like Giovanni Bignami, Patrizia Caraveo - his wife - Massimo Capaccioli, and i find always in these characters a special sensibility for nature, life, exploration, sports, arts, music and instruments, and so it seems to be we should encourage a fusion between all these different ways to understand life. Physics is just a summary of all the moods of the mind. Many times school is not ready to realize big steps but little by little we can encourage this changes. A physicist is someone who can remove without difficulties what is not necessary in his life as in his work. It means also tolerance and respect between each other, it means to be easy, it means to be simple, it means to be humble, it means always feel what is around you.

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One of the figures that I would like to introduce to my students is Giovanni Bignami, President National Institute for Astrophysics. He is able to, with its simple but precise language, fascinate every audience. Recently he commented on the discovery of a possible extrasolar planet similar to ours in the habitable zone around Proxima Centauri, the nearest star to the Solar System, to just 4.2 light years away.

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Unfortunately, the media in Italy offer especially career models in sports and in the show.
Many news and gossip that have little cultural value, while little attention is given to researchers and scienzieti who every day make small or great scientific discoveries

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My dream is to have in the classroom as an astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti or Luca Parmitano

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In my previous school Prof. Dr. Feryal Özel was invited for her speech. She is women scientist and she is working in a project supported by NASA. Students were so impressed. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feryal_%C3%96zel

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The greatest scientist of the 20th century in all spheres of science Nikola Tesla-
Serb from the Croatian...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nikola_Tesla

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Because   I am  romanian,I will write about Dumitru Prunariu,the first romanian   cosmonaut,the  space  ambasador from Romania.

He said:” I finally got to fly into space. Fulfilled Dreams are like a circle of light on the trunk of life, irradiation beneficial. In the cosmos, the universe is no longer the closer your house, street, neighborhood, but very homeworld. Earth, besides the physical dimension that you can appreciate directly at its true value and greatness, has a strong moral dimension. From a space flight go back much power over you, more mature, closer to people and nature, with a much more global phenomen and terrestrial activities. Although you are not alone in the aircraft, solitude up there is pretty strong. You feel suddenly broke your natural environment, where you were born and developed.”

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For the Philippines, students can look up to Dr. Rogel Mari Sese, one of the three astrophysicists in the country.
https://ph.linkedin.com/in/rogel-mari-sese-5309bbb0

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I think Teresa Lago is a great model in Astrophysics.
https://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teresa_Lago

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The portuguese aerospace engineer, Nuno Silva - in the ExoMars mission
The head of department "flight dynamics" Airbus Defence, is to design the ExoMars mission, from Stevenage, England. Since 2008, the aerospace engineer works to think in 2019, the year is expected to reach a European robot to Mars to search for signs of life on the planet.

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Professor Teresa Lago has worked on Astronomy and Astrophysics. Her work has been very importante to portuguese scientific culture.
http://www.iastro.pt/news/news.html?ID=42

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Here in Greece we have a great role model to engage young students. I teach in a upper secondary high school in a school where most of the students attend lessons about Sience, Chemistry and Math and they want to acheive their entrance to University after the national exams at the end of school year.
this person is  Dimitri V. Nanopoulos (Greek: ΔημήτρηςΝανόπουλος; born 13 September 1948) is a Greek physicist. He is one of the most regularly cited researchers in the world, cited more than 43,200 times over across a number of separate branches of science. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dimitri_Nanopoulos
Starting with reading in class some lines of his own self-biography: Νανόπουλος, Δημήτρης. Προβατάς, Μάκης (2015). Στον τρίτο βράχο από τον ήλιο, Μια ζωή, η επιστήμη κι άλλα παράλληλα σύμπαντα. Αθήνα: εκδόσεις Πατάκη, σελ. 14. ISBN 978-960-16-6015-8.

and some links to share with my Greek students:

Η ιστοσελίδα του Δημήτρη Νανόπουλου στο πανεπιστήμιο Texas A&M

Η ιστοσελίδα του Δημήτρη Νανόπουλου στο Facebook

Τα 4’ που ανατρέπουν τη Φυσική. Η Καθημερινή, 7/10/2007

«Ω, τι τόπος...» Λευτέρης Παπαδόπουλος. Τα Νέα, 19/6/1998

Στα όρια της φυσικής επιστήμης Συνέντευξη στον Γιάννη Ζηση. ΜΚΟ Σόλων

Δημήτρης Νανόπουλος (video Αρχείο ντοκιμαντέρ της ΕΡΤ)

Στα Άκρα: Δημήτρης Νανόπουλος, Θανάσης Βαλτινός (μέρος 1ο) (video Αρχείο ντοκιμαντέρ της ΕΡΤ)

Στα Άκρα: Δημήτρης Νανόπουλος, Θανάσης Βαλτινός (μέρος 2ο) (video Αρχείο ντοκιμαντέρ της ERT)

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In Italy we have a lot of people that teacher can use as a role model. One of them is the female astronaut Samanta Cristoforetti

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We have already had interviews led by students with various support personal for the international space station working for a local company, Altec. Any of them are great role models because they are REAL and live in the same city as my students--don't need to go to Houston ;-)

https://www.altecspace.it/

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Taking a look a history I can remember :
Constantin Capitateanu , the first astronomer, who founded the first astronomical observatory in Iasi, Romania , in 1875 and the Romania's first female astronomer, Maria Teohari, born in 1885 in my city Giurgiu.
Herman Oberth it was one of the founders of rocket science and astronautics.

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Many young people are uncartain about their future. Space and Astronomy seems to be quite challneging for them. We have to explain the that astronauts are not the only  possibility when they think about this job path. This is the career for people with passion, not nessesary only for geniuses!

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in Italy there is the space agency with a program dedicated to http://www.asi.it/it/educational education sector. The ASI promotes training and technical-professional growth of undergraduates, postgraduates and young researchers in the field of science and space technologies and their applications, through the award of scholarships and research, as well as promoting and realizing, on the basis of appropriate agreements with universities, internship programs and high scientific training courses. The Dissemination Office of Culture Aerospace ASI care also educational projects and dissemination of aerospace culture for young people and schools, in order to promote the study of science subjects and guide future academic and professional choices of the students.

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I can simply suggest that the passion for the web could be an helpful job for the aerospace agency.

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NASA astronaut Col. Timothy L. Kopra's family is originally from Finland. His grandfather moved to US from Finland in 1910. Finland is also very much involved in the current scientific space projects of ESA.

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Some great ideas already shared, + #ECD2016 - introduced models.

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Some great ideas already shared, + #ECD2016 - introduced models.

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Maria, Greece
Many great ideas and role models from Greece have already been shared here.

Periklis Papadopoulos, Athena Coustenis, Dr Manos Danezis, Dr Stamatis Krimigis,
the quartet of Koutsika Olga - Helen Mavroudis - Pliatsika Lamprini -  Theodora Papacharalambous to name but a few, are all great options for they display examples of people of different gender, origin, career, interests that all orbit around in Space with great passion providing interesting and inspiring stories that still keep being written. To all those great people, I'd add all the incredible possible-role-models discovered at the ESA Citizens Debate  in Greece. So many great people, creating so many inspiring space and science projects, PLUS my recent introduction to the amazing team of si-Cluster just seem to open endless opportunities. Thanks to Corallia initiative, hosting the #ECD, It was the first time I learned about the Hellenic Space Technologies and Applications Cluster [located at α2-innohub] - http://www.si-cluster.gr/en/about-si-cluster.html ] and I find the possibility of introducing the kids in such a REALITY in Greece, today, the most inspiring and encouraging thing that can happen in my class this year.

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We have 2 known in all world astronomers: Mikołaj Kopernik and Alex Wolszczan. The second one is Polish astronomer who actually works in Pennsylvania, US. All Polish child knows the name of Mirosław Hermaszewski - the first Polish astronaut in the Space.
This year we celebrate World Space Week and our students had possiblity to know astronauts of Polish ancestry, for instance George Zamka.
My duty as a teacher is to encourage my students to interest of space science.   They have to belive that they can do everything. They just have to follow their dreams.

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Oton Kučera (1 January 1857, Petrinja – 29 December 1931, Zagreb) was a Croatian astronomer. He played a crucial role by popularizing science and technology in Croatia. He was the author of several physics handbooks for primary school and a series of popular scientific works from the areas of physics, astronomy and electrical engineering.

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A scientist from the University of Berne, she was involved in the Rosetta space mission.

In case you understand Swiss German, you can listen to her TEDxTalk Bern: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=liQKFTWTR1Q

One of the remarkable facts about her: She is ending her career just now and going on pension. So, coming from an unlikely background and having such a career is not only a thing for the future, it is already happening.

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I will propose to my students a visit to Isnello, in the province of Palermo, where is the new Sicilian Astronomy Centre "Gal Hassin".
Furthermore, I would like to connect my students with astrophysics Sandra Savaglio, Fellow and Senior Research Scientist at the European Southern Observatory, the Johns Hopkins University and the Space Telescope Science Institute (Baltimore), specializing in astrophysics of distant galaxies, of 'chemical enrichment of the universe and of the explosive phenomena. It seems like a good start.

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I would choose Anja C. Andersen. She is an expert in stardust and an exelent  communicator.
Look here:http://www.dark-cosmology.dk/~anja/
And there is the danish astronaut Andreas Mogensen, and he is allway willing to share his experiments.Look here: https://da.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andreas_Mogensen

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I would also give Canan Dağdeviren as a famale role model to my students.

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i would choose Canan dagdeviren as a role model female scientist.

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I would make a video conference with the astronomer Catarina Alves de Oliveira. It is an astronomer at ESA, she works on the development and testing of NIRSpec instrument for the James Webb Space Telescope that will be released in 2018, does research on star formation area.

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I would choose Chrysa Kouveliotou, a Greek astrophysict who works in NASA and has awarded with 3 prizes. By showing photos of her and talking about her job I would emphasize on the fact that spase is not a boy kind of thing.

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I would choose  Dr. Kalpana Chawla.
She broke the sterotype was the first Indian woman and the second from the country to travel into space. She had a PhD in aerospace engineering . She took her first flight aboard Columbia in 1994, during which she deployed the Spartan Satellite.

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Definetely, I would choose people who are not necessarily famous because they could be taken as a model by students feeling that what they want to become, could be realized in a near future.

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In my school we celebrat the World Space Week, and we have a lot of activities - see the programme here: http://www.aesjb.edu.pt/, and next tuesday my students will have a videoconference with a cosmonaut Dr.Salizhan Sharipov . The students can do questions about living and working in space and about thetraining to became an astronauta.

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I choose Athena Coustenis. She is a female scientist and she is Greek.
https://womeninplanetaryscience.wordpress.com/2016/01/27/dr-athena-coustenis-just-follow-your-dreams/
I really like her moto!

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I live in Italy, and we have a great model of Italian astronaut that is also a female. Samanta Cristoforetti will be a good model for  my  pupils and mybe I can arrange an interview with her ...

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I live in Italy, and we have a great model of Italian astronaut that is also a female. Samanta Cristoforetti will be a good model for  my  pupils and mybe I can arrange an interview with her ...

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I think I'm quite lucky because I was born in Romania and now I'm living and teaching Italy so I could use both the speakers in the video and maybe talk a little bit about my career choices and maybe call some of my exstudents who chose a space career!Since I'm teaching English I could emphasise the fact that English is one of the things the speakers have in common

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I would try a skype conference with a Portuguese astronaut , Jorge Martins.

Before I would prepare the students with some pertinent questions about the subject applied.

This could also be an incentive to follow space careers. .

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Greece
Eleni  Antoniadou is a 28 year old  biotechnologist workin for NASA
Read the following link
https://www.hellenext.org/launchpad_1/biotech-start-up-founder-eleni-antoniadou-aims-to-change-medicine-forever/

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Pedro Duque is an Spanish astronaut. He is a great person. He participates in some TV science shows and he is a science progress defender. He has filmed some ESA science videos that I use at the classroom.
He writes many times in twitter and I say to my students to follow him in this social network.

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I can shoose 2: Ana Cabral because was a student in our school and a womwn and Professor Manuel Paiva.  He participated in ten space missions both NASA and the European Space Agency.

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If I have to choose a role model related to space topic from my country it certainly would be Milutin Milanković.
He was was a Serbian mathematician, astronomer, climatologist, geophysicist, civil engineer, doctor of technology, university professor andpopularizer of science. Milanković gave two fundamental contributions to global science. The first contribution is the "Canon of the Earth’s Insolation", which characterizes the climates of all the planets of the Solar system. The second contribution is the explanation of Earth's long-term climate changes caused by changes in the position of the Earth in comparison to the Sun, now known asMilankovitch cycles. This explained the ice ages occurring in the geological past of the Earth, as well as the climate changes on the Earth which can be expected in the future. He founded planetary climatology by calculating temperatures of the upper layers of the Earth's atmosphere as well as the temperature conditions on planets of the inner Solar system, Mercury, Venus, Mars, and theMoon, as well as the depth of the atmosphere of the outer planets. He demonstrated the interrelatedness of celestial mechanics and the Earth sciences, and enabled consistent transition from celestial mechanics to the Earth sciences and transformation ofdescriptive sciences into exact ones.

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It can be useful to introduce women engineers or physicist careers not necessaraly famous, making students to be interested in interview them.

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Samantha Cristoforetti is undoubtedly a positive role as a woman and as a scientist astronaut!

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In Italy Samantha Cristoforetti has received a wide media coverage both because she is Italian, and both because she is a woman. This exposure makes her the ideal candidate as role model

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I would emphasize to  STAMATIOS M. KRIMIGIS

because he contributed to one of the most important space expedition the Cassini–Huygens mission to Saturn .

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Dumitru-Dorin Prunariu is the romanian cosmonaut. He flew in space aboard Soyuz 40spacecraft and Saliut 6 space laboratory.

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Perhaps I could choose Ana Cabral. She is an astronomer and a researcher. She is married to a French astrophysicist, lives in Wales and she has traveled around the world, from Europe (Portugal, France, England, Netherlands), Japan, Australia, to Hawaii. She was a school student in the school where I teach and so, in addition to being a woman who broke a stereotype, her pathway is closer to the reality of my current students.

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Professor Michael Perryman, the scientific leader of ESA's Hipparcos mission, and a founding father of its successor mission, Gaia is an adjunct professor in University College Dublin

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Professor Michael Perryman, the scientific leader of ESA's Hipparcos mission, and a founding father of its successor mission, Gaia is an adjunct professor in University College Dublin

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samanta Cristoforetti un'austronauta Italian, I would think to contact her and see if she can make it to interview via Skype from the boys, or I could to show the kids pictures, movies of his stay in space with the mission ISS Expedition 42 / Expedition 43 and from interviews she made from the orbiting station

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Giovanna, Italy.It's true, some bad models let us believe we are not good in one or another matter. It seems to me that nowadays being a teacher is really difficult because of the choices we have to do  each days in our lessons, the models we would like to show to our students and the way we all have to be in order to let our children free to develope their own personality and grow and improve their own capability and vocation. In science the model my students have loved is of course "our" Samanta Cristoforetti, she has burnt their curiosity and fashinated my young students: a woman in space and a Sicilian one in a same person. Two smashed stereotypes!!!!

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Giovanna, Italy.It's true, some bad models let us believe we are not good in one or another matter. It seems to me that nowadays being a teacher is really difficult because of the choices we have to do  each days in our lessons, the models we would like to show to our students and the way we all have to be in order to let our children free to develope their own personality and grow and improve their own capability and vocation. In science the model my students have loved is of course "our" Samanta Cristoforetti, she has burnt their curiosity and fashinated my young students: a woman in space and a Sicilian one in a same person. Two smashed stereotypes!!!!

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Perhaps Professor Manuel Paiva. He was Professor of Physics and Biophysics at the Faculty of Medicine and Director of the Biomedical Physics Laboratory of the same University. He participated in ten space missions both NASA and the European Space Agency.

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Perena Gouma is a scientist who was born in Athens and invented a breath test that could detect diseases.She is a great example that if someone is passioned with science can do great things.

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I was born in Athens Greece, in the Academy of Plato neighborhood at the City Center. My parents were born in Athens too. My grandparents came from the Cyclades, the islands of Kythnos, and Andros.
What do you remember from your childhood?
I remember being a good student at school, being curious, visiting the public libraries and setting up experiments at home and at my friends' houses (e.g. making simple electrochemical cells, or carrying our exothermal chemical reactions). I was also reciting poems, read speeches at events related to national and religious holidays, and sometimes read the prayer at the School Assembly.
Your current research interests are something you wanted to do since you were young? When did you decide to become involved with Nanomaterials?
It seems to me that I was always destined for science although my teachers in high school thought that I would be equally successful if I were to follow the path of philosophy. I was equally strong in the Language-Literature as in the Math-Physics-related disciplines. I had not heard of the materials science discipline until I tool a course on electron microscopy of materials of the late Professor Antonopoulos at the Aristotelio University in Thessaloniki.
You studied at Aristotelio University and the you continued abroad. Was that a difficult decision due to your field?
I was among the top performers from all over the Country (Greece) in my graduating class. I could have been admitted to any School and department in my discipline (Science and Engineering) and I had chosen the Physics Department in the Aristotelio University because I had read it had a nuclear reactor on site for use by the students. My plan was to follow nuclear physics -that was before the Chernobyl accident changed the prospects in that field (remember that I entered the University in Fall of 1986 just after that accident -only recently nuclear physics and reactors are gaining some renewed interest in the context of alternative energy).

Also, it was my interest to carry out postgraduate studies abroad and US was in my long-term plans but I had no guidance or information whatsoever as to how to apply for PhD studies in the US. Once I found out about Ceramic materials and electron microscopy I was utterly fascinated and I carried out my diploma thesis' research on that subject matter. Then, I was recommended by my Professors (Siapkas and Antonopoulos) for a scholarship at the University of Liverpool at UK. Once I was granted the scholarship, I moved to the UK for postgraduate work. Following my PhD studies at the University of Birmingham under the advice of renowned electron microscopist M.H. Loretto I had two offers for post-doctoral studies from US Institutions. So, it was a natural path for my career development to live and work abroad. As much as I have been grateful to Greece for the free education and the opportunity to obtain my bachelor's degree and to be exposed to emerging fields of science and engineering, it was the US that offered me the career opportunities and which allowed me to have a research home and a teaching position and now as a Full Professor of Materials Science and Engineering and the Director of the Center for Nanomaterials and Sensor Development, I have enjoyed the privilege of mentoring a large number of students who have set out to careers of their own. I have produced innovative research and publications and patents and device prototypes that are going to revolutionize personal diagnostics. Today I am a US Citizen and I am grateful for all that the US has offered to me and to my family.
Could you elaborate about your current positions?
My position is primarily Full Professor (with tenure) at the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at the State University of New York where I lead a group of post-docs , graduate, undergraduate students and high school interns and I am teaching courses related to my field of expertise. In this capacity I am overseeing and carrying out experiments, I am teaching regular academic courses and I give lectures to other Institutions and at Conferences and I travel the world over to present my research. The Center of Nanomaterials and Sensor Development was established with funds that I secured from the National Science Foundation, the primary sponsor of my research, and it is an interdisciplinary research Center where faculty from the various departments across campus (e.g. electrical engineering, pathology, biochemistry, etc) are working together to make novel nanostructured materials and novel devices related to nanomedicine. I am overseeing the grant writing process, the cross-cutting education of the research associates and the outreach facilities of the Center. Several science videos have been prepared by funding agencies (NSF science Nation) or media (TV globo) or research societies (IOP) that feature and highlight the activities of the Center.

Numerous reports in the media (mashable, Fox news, NPR, newsday) have also referred to the Center's activities.
You have created innovative and successful programs for nanoscience, can you explain the functionality of your findings?
Our findings primarily involve novel nanostructured sensing elements for the detection of biomarkers (disease signaling molecules) in the breath of humans and animals that may indicate/signal the onset of a disease or metabolic malfunction. Thus, with a single exhale the individual may monitor for example the levels of nitric oxide (NO) in his/her breath to figure out if an asthma attack is impending and thus take medication as needed. Or monitoring the acetone levels in the breath allows the individual to check the insulin level in his/her blood non -invasively and with minimal effort.
How difficult was it to be as destinguished in your field?
I have been fortunate to be among the few scientists who dealt with nanotechnology early on. My background involving the atomic level characterization of materials using electron microscopy enabled me to identify differences in the structure of nano-scale metal oxides that were critical for the development of selective chemo sensors. It has really come down to understanding the phase (polymorph) of the material that is used for sensing and how this allows specific gas-oxide interactions -that led to the breakthroughs of my team. Next was the realization that you need just a single exhale to capture the gas of interest at the concentration of interest and we set out to making sensors and devices that do just that. And of course using inexpensive oxide technology and scalable nanomanufacturing will help to promote the technology further and making it available to everyone really.
You live abroad. Do you have in mind a return to Greece? If so under which conditions?
I was born and raised in Greece and my siblings and extended family and childhood and College friends still live there and of course one part of me will always go back to where I come from. The other part of me is my family here and my son who was born and is being raised here and US is his home and where he comes from. The bottom line is that my career is here, and my life has been my career for a long time now, so in a sense this is what is likely to guide my future too.
Do you think that Greece could be more present in your field?
Although I have spent time carrying out research in several countries all over the world (UK, Hungary, Italy, Switzerland, Cyprus, Brazil) and have visited Universities and Research Labs all over the world (Japan, Australia, Europe, Americas) I did not have a chance to interact with the Institutions in Greece for the last 24 years since my graduation from Thessaloniki. I have participated in conferences organized by Greek Institutions or held in Greece and I did co-organize an ECI conference in Crete a couple of years ago that was successful. Last year I was invited as an evaluator for the assessment of a Technological Institute in Greece but I do not have a comprehensive picture as to what is the state of materials science research in Greece. I believe that there are departments and programs dedicated to this discipline but I am not in a position to make specific recommendations as I am not fully aware of the performance of the existing programs. Certainly nanomedicine is a great field to address as this domain will demonstrate the first real applications of nanomaterials and Greek Institutions are traditionally strong in science, engineering and medicine. Merging these three fields may bring revolutionary changes with small investments in infrastructure.
During the last few years due to the economical crisis, we have the so called "brain drain" phenomenon.
I do not believe that there is a brain-drain in Greece. I believe that there are few opportunities for the good brains without means and contacts. A way to address this problem is to open new positions and to re-consider established practices. I remember starkly from my time as a student, although I was performing very well during each and every semester, I was never given the chance to apply for the Erasmus exchange program. I doubt that the ones who were sent were motivated enough to take advantage of and build on the opportunity.

This is what causes brain-drain. That limited opportunity is made available to the able and the highly motivated. There are many good people who do not wish to leave Greece. It is not everyone who is willing to make this sacrifice for his/her career and it is hard to be a stranger among strangers at times, especially at first. There are some who seek the opportunity to study, work and live abroad. We all deserve to have a choice to leave or stay to pursue our careers and this is the determining factor whether Greece take care of its scientists or not. And for many graduates the option to stay is simply not there.
How often do you visit Greece?
I try to visit Greece once a year; sometime is less often sometime is more often. I visit family in Athens and Thessaloniki and travel to some island for vacation.
What does Greece mean for you?
Like I mentioned above, what constitutes Greece for me is the childhood memories and the customs and experiences of my upbringing there. I have now lived longer abroad than in Greeece and I have committed to serve the US and I do so with pride. I am also proud to be a Greek-American and to carry the Hellenic legacy with me forever. Nothing can change that. I think of Greece with love and care and I wish to be of help to Greek people in any capacity that I can.
If you could address a question to all Greeks, what would it be?
Do they share the same love for Greece with those who have been deprived of it, in order to do the best for their country?

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βιοαισθητήρες

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νανοτεχνολογία

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PERENA GOUMA - Invented a breath test that could detect diseases

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I was born in Athens Greece, in the Academy of Plato neighborhood at the City Center. My parents were born in Athens too. My grandparents came from the Cyclades, the islands of Kythnos, and Andros. What do you remember from your childhood?

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In the last video, Martina Lanza talks about her difficulty with math. I think this is the first cause of abandon of space careers. I love astronomy but when I decided to go to University I didn't choose a scientific faculty because I thought I wasn't enough good in math. I would teach to my students to never give up and believe in their selves more then me. I will tell them about the other roles in space  and astronomy career giving them examples and talking about people who have succeeded in this field.

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Almost all the Italians student know Samantha Cristoforetti, it could be good to speak also about Maurizio Cheli, Umberto Guidoni, Franco Malerba,  Luca Parmitano, Paolo Nespoli, Roberto Vittori

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In Italy we have important astronauts as Samantha Cristoforetti, Luca Parmitano ecc. But I'd like to present to my students other people involved in the space careers even if less famous.

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Amine and Hamza two of my students, they are dreaming of a trip to Mars! I have submitted to the UIA University of Ifrane Morocco at the 4th astronomy festival Ifrane...

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In Italy we have a lot of important Astronauts like Samantha Cristoforetti and Luca Parmitano that are national role models. But I want to focuse the attention on other example, like Giovanni Bignami (http://www.giovannibignami.it/). He is a Scientist but also a writer and a person who tries to explain difficult subjects connected to the Space and Astronomy to people, like in his last book:

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Some easy national role models would be Samantha Cristoforetti, or other astronauts as Luca Parmitano, and Roberto Vittori, they are the ones most students would think about. Here is a site for educational purposes with their contribution.

But, in order to propose a more ground-based role model, I would choose a researcher working at INAF, or an engineer involved in a satellite design.

These people would be good examples of the variety of jobs connected to space, and how technology developed for space can later be used for other applications.

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The first role model I think about is Máximo Ferreira, a portuguese astronomer. I remember him in a night sky observation at my school when I was a student and I think that was the seed planted in my mind that grew up to the actual interest I have in this area! I use his example as a scientist and his educational materials in my classes.

We can know a little bit more about him in this recent interview:

http://www.dn.pt/portugal/entrevista/interior/maximo-ferreira-fazia-40-quilometros-de-bicicleta-por-dia-para-trabalhar-e-estudar-5366425.html

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by Angela Colli
The Centre for Health Technologies of University of Pavia organized a public meeting with Samantha Cristoforetti, an Astronaut at the European Space Agency and Captain in the Italian Air Force.I was there with my student. In my lessons I speak of the NATO experiment conducted by the University of Pavia (Livia Visai) and others to study the effects of administration of specific nanoparticles as a countermeasure to reduce Microgravity (MG)-induced osteoporosis using the same human stem cells that differentiate into osteoblasts.

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Aoibhinn Ní Shuilleabháin is a well known TV personality in Ireland. She is currently assistant professor in University College Dublin working in the Mathematical field. She does not have any direct Space links that I know of but she has had a diverse career and is relatively young. I think that she could bring life to maths education and inspire the students.

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well, I do not have to travel in to space to find Sara Anjos! She has a very interesting space related career here in Portugal, and she is one of the moderators of this course.
We also have Rosa Doran from NUCLIO.
If you want to know about more space related careers role model, you can search in this website: http://www.sp-astronomia.pt/

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Henri Coandă  was a Romanian inventor, aerodynamics pioneer, and builder of an experimental aircraft: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henri_Coand%C4%83
Dumitu Prunariu is the first Romanian Astronaut: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dumitru_Prunariu

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We have a national pride who is Umut Yıldız. He is astrophysicist in NASA. He sometimes broadcasts in Periscope, I am planning to join it with my class if time is appropriate.

Time to time, he posts a question about astronomy on his Facebook page and send a NASA sticker to best answer’s owner. I am planning to write an answer to him on behalf of all class if I can catch.

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Dr. Manos Danezis was born in Piraeus. He is a graduate of Athens mathematical department. His doctoral thesis was in astrophysics, and he is a professor of astrophysics at the physics department of the University of Athens. He was responsible for a series of documentary records of Greek educational television on space called " Το Σύμπαν που Αγάπησα" (the universe that i loved). These are presented scientific topics related to space and life in a simple way.

Finally, in Paris on 19- 20 June 2014 four undergraduate students of the Law School of Athens, won first place in the World Competition of Space Law organized by IASLA International Air and Space Law Academy. Koutsika Olga, Helen Mavroudis, Pliatsika Lamprini and Theodora Papacharalambous, won first prize in the world in the preparation of written pleadings with legal arguments in a labor case involving collision of satellites in space and the second prize in the world with their appearance in a virtual court before which the judge had to express their positions.

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I did the ibsl activity of the Universe Timeline in one 8th grade class, tomorrow I will do the same in another, at the end there is a discussion about the telescope, we will research about it and more about William Parsons.
Also, we will research about Samantha Cristoforetti, the first Italian woman that has gone on ISS.

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My studentsI  are still 8 years old but I love talking to them about space because i know it interests them a lot. In fact we are currently covering the topic and i enjoy showing them clips and any information i come across. My son is always reading and listening

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http://www.aero.pub.ro/Educational-offer-master.html
http://www.aero.pub.ro/Software-for-thermal-and-flow-fields-analysis-in-the-supersonic-hypersonic-boundary-layers_eng.html

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https://www.britannica.com/biography/William-Parsons-3rd-earl-of-Rosse#William Parsons invented the largest telescope of the time in the 1800s.

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Claudie Haignéré is the first French woman in space. In 1996 she spent 13 days on Mir.

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Zita  Martins - Astrobiologist
Faculty of Engineering, Department of Earth Science & Engineering
Royal Society Research Fellow

BIOGRAPHY

Royal Society University Research Fellow, Imperial College London (UK), 2009-present

Invited Professor, University of Nice-Sophia Antipolis (France), 2012

Associate Researcher, Imperial College London (UK), 2007-2009

Visiting Scientist, NASA Goddard (USA), 2005, 2006

PhD, Astrobiology, Leiden University (The Netherlands), 2003-2007

MSc, Chemistry, Instituto Superior Técnico (Portugal), 1997-2002

She was appointed Officer of the Order of Saint James of the Sword (Oficial da Ordem Militar de Sant'Iago da Espada, OSE) by the President of Portugal for exceptional and outstanding merits in science. This is the Portuguese equivalent of an OBE.

The Order Militar de Sant'Iago da Espada is one of the oldest Military orders in Portugal (was founded in 1172).

She was selected as one of "100 Women in Science" by the Portuguese Agency of Science and Technology (March 2016)

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EU Space Awareness Career Interviews: Zita Martins, Astrobiologist // FULL 3 min video

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Stamatis Krimitzis
From Chios to the endless Universe Share1041

Dr. Stamatis M. Krimigis has a long and distinguished career as a tutor and pioneer researcher involved in experiments in the most important space programs of USA as well as of the international scientific community.

Dr. Krimigis graduated from the Gymnasium of Chios, Greece, the University of Minnesota (B. Phys., 1961) and the University of Iowa (M.S., 1963; Ph.D., 1965, both in physics). As a student of J. A. Van Allen and later on the Physics and Astronomy Dept. faculty, he built instruments for Mariners 3, 4 (Mars), Injun 4, 5 (Earth), OGO-4 (Earth), Mariner-5 (Venus), and Explorers 33 and 35 (Moon, Anchored IMP). He joined JHU/APL in 1968.

Dr. Krimigis” research interests include the Earth’s environment, its magnetosphere, the sun, the interplanetary medium, and the magnetospheres of the planets. As Principal Investigator or Co-Investigator, he has designed, built, flown and analyzed data from 21 instruments on NASA/ESA space science missions, including the Low Energy Charged Particle (LECP) Experiment on Voyagers 1 and 2, and the Active Magnetospheric Particle Tracer Explorers (AMPTE), a collaborative U.S.-German-U.K. program that created the first artificial comet in space on December 27, 1984. Together with five other scientists, he was invited to the White House for lunch to brief President Reagan on both of these projects on March 26, 1986. He was one of the Group of American intellectuals from World of Arts, Sciences, and Politics invited to meet with President Gorbachev during his first visit to Washington, D.C. in December 1987. He also participated in a briefing of President Bush in the Oval Office on July 7, 1990, following the successful Voyager encounter with Neptune. He is currently a Principal Investigator for the Cassini/Huygens mission to Saturn and Titan, a Co-Investigator on the Ulysses, ACE and MESSENGER missions and Collaborating scientist on the New Horizons mission to Pluto and the Kuiper belt. He is currently Co-investigator on the ESA Proba-3 ASPIICS instrument and the NASA Solar Probe Plus EPI-Lo experiment.

Dr. Krimigis spearheaded the establishment of NASA’s Discovery program for low-cost planetary missions. The first such mission, NEAR, was developed at APL, launched in 1996, orbited asteroid Eros for a year, and landed on February 12, 2001. The NEAR team has been the recipient of numerous prestigious awards, including the Smithsonian Trophy for Achievement in 2002.  Together with two other colleagues, he was recognized for «Laurels» in Space for the NEAR achievement by Aviation Week & Space Technology magazine in 1997, and again in 2001.  He was also recognized in 2001 with «Laurels» for his role in resurrecting the mission to Pluto, New Horizons, launched on January 19, 2006. Dr. Krimigis has built instruments that have flown to all eight planets, the only scientist to do so, and his work on the New Horizons mission to Pluto (the ninth planet until 2007) will complete the set.

Dr. Krimigis has published more than 500 papers (25 in Science, 8 in Nature) in journals and books, is co-editor of the book Saturn from Cassini-Huygens (Springer, 2009); has been awarded the NASA Medal for Exceptional Scientific Achievement in 1981 and again in 1986, over forty NASA Group Achievement Awards for Voyager, AMPTE, Galileo, NEAR, Cassini, MESSENGER, ACE, etc, the ESA group awards for Ulysses and Cassini-Huygens, has been a member of the National Academy of Sciences” Space Science Board, Chairman of the Board’s Committee on Solar and Space Physics (1983-1986), member of NASA’s Space Science and Applications Advisory Committee, Fellow of the American Geophysical Union, the American Physical Society, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, and Trustee and Chair of Basic Sciences section of the International Academy of Astronautics. He received the International Academy of Astronautics Basic Sciences Award in 1994. At the World Space Congress (2002) he was presented with the COSPAR Space Science Award, and in November 2004 he received the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory Lifetime Achievement Award. He has participated as member or Chairman in many national and international conferences in space science and space systems management, and has lectured in major conferences and National Academies in all five continents. The International Astronomical Union in 1999 named asteroid «8323 Krimigis» (previously 1979 UH) in his honor. The President of the Hellenic Republic has awarded him the Gold Cross «Commandeur de l” Ordre du Phoenix» in 1997. He was awarded Honorary Doctorates from the University of the Aegean (12/2009, Financial and Management Engineering) and the University of Athens (05/2010 Department of Physics). Most recently, the Council of European Aerospace Societies awarded Dr. Krimigis its 2010 CEAS Gold Medal.

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Just remembered about famous Bulgarian singer Valya Balkanska whose  space voyager song flies on the Universe ... young learners will be happy to know & like it. Enjoy! :)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-VUY6n4W1VA

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Periklis Papadopoulos:
The Messinian NASA astrophysicist
and the father of the 1st Greek satelite 'Λ sat'
Dr. Periklis Papadopoulos, Aerospace Engineering Professor and Astrophysicist, has origins in Kalamata, where he was born in 1963.

In 1982, he relocated to the United States to pursue his academic dream of studying Aeronautics and Aeronautical Engineering, with expertise in planet exploration and ultrasounds.

In 1992, Papadopoulos received his doctorate degree with distinction from Stanford University. Since 1987, he has been working for NASA Ames in California, having committed as a partner for over 10 years to the Curiosity landing programme, as head of the thermal protection system research team.

In 2003, Periklis Papadopoulos founded Space Systems LLC and as an expert in ultrasonic reintegration he is the head of a research team having accomplished important programme goals and missions for the exploration of space and planets of our solar system. He has been awarded by NASA for his offer and has also earned the prestigious Turning Goals into Reality award.

He also holds a tenure, full professor, position at San Jose State University.

The first Greek satellite will launch in the summer 2013 from Cape Canaveral, a programme donated by NASA and funded by Greek entrepreneurs.

Dr. Periklis Papadopoulos loves Greece and pays regular visits to the country on every summer occasion. His lifetime dream is to settle down in Kalamata after retirement.

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Chrysa Kouveliotou:
"The Greek NASA astrophysicist who constantly distinguishes"
Member of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States, a senior scientific body of the U.S., was elected Greek astrophysicist’s NASA, Chryssa Kouveliotou in recognition of the multiple contributions of the space and astronomical research.

He has received several awards for her work, such as «Rossi Award» (2003) and «Descartes Prize» (2004), while in 2012 was awarded the «Prize for Astrophysics Danny Chaineman» (the award jointly by the American Institute of Physics and the American Astronomical Society), and the Distinguished Service Medal of NASA.

Chryssa Kouveliotou has been selected as the 2012 recipient of the Dannie Heineman prize in astrophysics, as a recognition of her significant contribution to science.

The distinction is awarded each year by the American Institute of Physics and the American Astronomical Society to a specialist, as a recognition for the work he has carried out in his field.

The prize is awarded to Chryssa Kouveliotou for her extensive accomplishments and discoveries in the areas of gamma ray bursts and magnetars- a newly discovered type of stars, which are surrounded by the most powerful magnetic fields ever observed in the universe. According to scientists, magnetars are dead stars, characterized by powerful starquakes that cause gamma ray flare emissions.

The Greek scientist works as an  astrophysicist at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. She has been the principal investigator on numerous research projects in the United States and Europe, while she is  a founding member of several scientific collaborative projects developing on a global level.

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Dimitri V. Nanopoulos (Greek: ΔημήτρηςΝανόπουλος; born 13 September 1948) is a Greek physicist. He is one of the most regularly cited researchers in the world, cited more than 43,200 times over across a number of separate branches of science. He has made several contributions to particle physics and cosmology,[1] and works in string unified theories, fundamentals of quantum theory, astroparticle physics and quantum-inspired models of brain function. He has written over 645 original papers, including 14 books. He has over 42,500 citations, placing him as the fourth most cited High Energy Physicist of all time, according to the 2001 and 2004 census. Since 1988 he has been fellow of the American Physical Society, and since 1992 member of the Italian Physical Society. In 1996, he was made Commander of the Order of Honour of the Greek State.

He is one of the principal developers of the flipped SU(5) model, first proposed by Stephen M. Barr in a paper published in 1982.[2] It was further described in a 1984 paper by Nanopoulos, J. P. Deredinger, and J.E Kim[3] and a 1987 paper by Nanopoulos, I. Antoniadis, John Ellis, and John Hagelin.[4][5]

On 17 October 2006 he was awarded the Onassis International prize by the Alexander S. Onassis Foundation.[6] On 28 September 2009, he was awarded the 2009 Enrico Fermi Prize from the Italian Physical Society in recognition of his pioneering work in the field of string theory.

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We have Dumitu Prunariu, the first Romanian Astronaut. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dumitru_Prunariu
We also have henri Coandă https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henri_Coand%C4%83
I think it's pretty good, but we don't have a Samantha as Italy :(

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space awareness can help students to discover space

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After this course I understand how much is important that children meet space scientist or any person who has one of space carrers. So I’d would like to know if there are any space scientist to student’s parent of my classroom or in our school. Then I can ask she or he to come in my classroom to speek with my pupils when we are studing something relating space. If there are not, I can ask my student’s parents if they personally know one space scientist. As a last chance, I can ask the animators of The Museum of Science and Technology of Milan if they can help me. But my biggest dream is to have Samantha Cristoforetti in my classroom!!!

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At the moment, in Italy, the astronaut Samantha is one of the most popular woman.
She is a successfull woman, able to pubblicize space missions in a very pleasant way. It was very nice to follow her activities on twitter. She can be certainly considered as a positive example for every woman or man who is interested in space carreers.

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Pedro Mota Machado e David Luz, both astrophysicists. Embedded in a team they have prepared a map of Venus winds.
The team used the lens of the Very Large Telescope (VLT), the telescope complex atop Cerro Paranal in Chile, which belongs to the European Southern Observatory.
From this data I can reinforce the importance of science and technology technology for knowledge and some characteristics of the planet Venus.

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Sema Husseyn's case stuck out to me, as an example of an artisticly motivated Space scholar, someone who seems fascinated by the beauty of the extraterrestrial. She would be great to talk to to find out she integrates art into a so-called scientific-technological field.

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In our place there is an observatory on a mountain nearby. Students enjoy visiting the observatory, walking around on the mountains, watching the stars and interviewing the people, they work there. They are simple people, students, technicians, physicists and engineers. There are also both male and female. Ti is a good idea to introduce space careers to kids through an excursion in  a so beautiful place. http://skinakas.physics.uoc.gr/

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Definitely I would talk about Silvia Torres Castilleja (-Peimbert), a mexican astronomer that is the current president of the Astronomical International Union:
http://www.iau.org/administration/executive_bodies/executive_committee/

She is a woman, a scientist, and an accesible person, you can talk easily with her.  Maybe for some people she is unknown and this could be an excellent opportunity to make her famous :P Also a chance to inform about the good worldwide position of the Astronomy made in Mexico.
I would introduce her maybe in some lesson regarding history, not only prehispanic cultures were good astronomers, but there are great ones now.

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In February 2012 Malta signed a Cooperation Agreement with the European Space Agency (ESA) allowing it to establish a framework for more intensive cooperation in future ESA projects. This introduced the possibility for Maltese graduates to undergo a one-year trainee programme at one of ESA’s establishments, experiencing cutting edge research in a multi-million research organisation.

I could mention this during one of the Geography lessons when discussing space but I could also dedicate some lessons to different careers during PSD and show them some clips and use resources I learnt from this course and at the same time invite these people over, if avail. I would like to change the Maltese people's mentality because we live in a small island and sometimes people, including Maltese, seem to forget that we still have people who are passionate and can nowadays pursue their passion like the people in the article above. I can also invite some parents, of different genders and ethnicity in class to talk to us about their different careers.

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Samantha Cristoforetti is definitely the best person. Students have heard a lot about her lately...