Being a Researcher is Not a Job, It’s a Passion
“Love what you are doing and get paid for that!” That’s the aphorism that Dr. George Mousdis, a seasoned researcher of 30-plus years, kept for his interview with TTC, when asked to describe the greatest benefit of his job, followed by the declaration “which is not a job – it is more of a hobby you love!” That’s why young researchers-to-be must like it, first of all. Of course, he admits that everyday life for a researcher is not exactly rosy… Research is time consuming, which means limited personal life and less time for your family, as you are usually “married” to science. It is also rather difficult to get money for your research, especially if you live in Greece, during the crisis. Hence, he firmly believes that research must give back something to the society that pays for it by introducing practical or commercial value added results. This belief is depicted in his work, which is focused on low-dimensional materials used in organic electronics, sensors and photovoltaics, as well as applications like the highly accurate and fast virgin olive oil authenticator, crucial for the Greek national product. Interviewed by Yannis Rizopoulos for Tech Talks Central.
George Mousdis
Researcher at National Hellenic Research Foundation
George Mousdis was born in 1962 in Thessaloniki, Greece. He obtained a diploma in Chemistry from the University of Athens in 1986 and received his Ph.D (1990) also from the Athens University. He worked for one year at CNRS Paul Pascal (Bordeaux, France) and two years at NCSR Demokritos (Athens, Greece). Since 1997 he works at NHRF as a researcher. His current research interests lie in the synthesis of hybrid materials, low dimensional materials, sol-gel chemistry, fluorometry and sensors. Author or coauthor in 100 publications in refereed journals, 21 publications in conference proceedings or book chapters. His work has more than 1000 citations (h index=16). He has coordinated or participated in more than 15 national and international research projects. He is a regular referee for international journals in the fields of physical chemistry and materials science and reviewer for national and international research projects.
Specialties: Chemistry, Materials
Researchers’ Night is held for one night in several hundred cities all over Europe and beyond. The purpose of is to convey to the general public the key ideas that Research is a necessary ingredient for progress, the Researchers are an integral part of the community and their profession is both fun, challenging, interesting and worth pursuing. On September 25th 2015 Researcher's Night will be held at the Hellenic Cosmos venue, in Athens. Tech Talks Central interviewed 20 Scientists & Researchers from 5 research centres that are presenting their work during Researchers' Night.