Nora Šlekienė, PhD student of Kaunas University of Technology (KTU) Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences has won the competition for an internship at European Space Agency (ESA). The student will be awarded more than 32 thousand euros funding for a year’s internship.
“I am thrilled by the opportunity to acquire new experience and knowledge, to learn new methods and technologies. Also, I will be able to find out more about the current space research, and the important trends in this research field”, says Šlekienė.
The KTU’s PhD student was encouraged to participate in the funding competition as the department she is working at – Centre for Microsystems and Nanotechnology – has started to collaborate with ESA on the project aimed to create methods for identifying molecular contamination in space using Surface-Enhanced Raman Scattering (SERS).
During the interview with ESA Šlekienė among other things, was asked the specifics of space environment, possible chemical reactions on the surface of equipment and devices used in space and their possible influence on their functioning.
According to the young researcher, SERS is a very sensitive technique, which allows to observe and investigate the stability changes in various materials. For example, it can be used in pharmacy or food industry for examining the chemical composition of pharmaceutical drugs and food, to identify impurities, to observe the stability changes in food or drugs.
“Space industry is not only construction of space ships or satellites; there’s a lot of research being undertaken at ESA. For example, analysing the composition of particles from space, their interaction with materials and devices used by ESA”, says Šlekienė.
In the press release from Lithuanian Research Council it is announced that 5 applications participated in the funding competition for ESA internship. More than 65 thousand euros were divided among two future ESA interns.
Lithuania has become ESA member in 2014. This membership opens up ample possibilities to participate in the international research, technology and innovation network for Lithuanian research and business.
