Blog

Last year I started a new outreach program at a primary school in Italy.
For me it was a big thing because that school is where I grow up and where my interest in science started.

This is the story about how saying yes to opportunities can lead to the highlight of your career so far, and even a chapter in my future thesis (yes, really!).

My interest for the area of astrobiology stems from the study of microbiology as an undergraduate student in biological sciences

After having completed a 10-week internship with SPS and Astrobiology, I can highly recommend the experience to anyone who may be interested. I first came across the opportunity on the OU’s OpportunityHub and sent my application into the OU internships team. I was invited for an online interview where I was asked to make a presentation outlining how I would drive engagement to a specific event. Once I started the internship my line managers, Alice and Hannah, were extremely supportive, empowering, encouraging and gave me autonomy over the projects I worked on.

It’s World Space Week and there are some exciting objects visible in the sky this week, not just for night owls but for early risers too. All visible to the naked eye, you’ll be able to see planets, a day moon, constellations and one of the brightest stars in the night sky.

The Moon

My name is Veli, and I am a 2^nd year PhD student at AstrobiologyOU. This is the second time I am writing a blog post for AstrobiologyOU – my first blog was about my summer internship with the group which morphed into the PhD project that I am currently doing. It has been a truly wonderful journey to get here!

I won’t lie, I was nervous, nervous to leave my 3-year-old for the longest I had yet (a whole week!), and nervous for my first real trip abroad since before I went on maternity leave in 2018 and the pandemic of course… !