Giovanna Giardino
Instrument Scientist - European Space Agency
My job title is Instrument Scientist. I am part of the ESA JWST team and have contributed to the development of NIRSpec, the European Near-Infrared Spectrograph on board of the Webb Space Telescope. Currently I work on the calibration of NIRSpec and on the preparation for the astronomical observations with this instrument that will start this summer.
Describe a typical day:
A typical date involves many hours at the computer, especially now, with the pandemic, when most of the meetings and many events are online. Depending on the day, at the computer, I program, test, write many emails, analyse data, write documents or sometimes prepare scientific papers.
In the past, there would probably be an average of two in-person meetings a day, interspersed by more informal discussion with colleagues. I used to travel regularly for conferences or meetings and to support the ground testing of NIRSpec and soon I will travel to the US for some of the in-flight calibration activities for this instrument
Top tip from Giovanna for those interested in a similar career:
Like any other job/study, it is important to be very interested in the subject and overall enjoy learning about it, be prepared to be intellectually challenged, as well as having the motivation to go through the unavoidable less interesting parts or boring tasks.
Testing things out, in terms of attending open days at universities, talking with older students, or later on, if one has the possibility of doing an internship, can always be useful.
