Research is a key part of the life of any university. As the students join their professors in their research activities, they learn how to conduct experiments, test new ideas, cope with setbacks and overcome problems.
Conversely, through their research activities, professors stay in touch with the latest developments in their fields and can keep their classes up to date.
At ISU, we perform research as we teach – with interdisciplinarity. Our research touches many aspects of space, from construction on the Moon to zero-gravity pharmacology, from nanosatellite design to the space economy and the study of the Universe.
For example, Danijela Stupar pursues her doctoral research looking at how to use powerful lasers to combine lunar regolith – the fine rock powder that covers the Moon – with organic elements to create a possible building material.
Similarly. Dr. Virginia Wötring studies how the impact of drugs on astronauts is modified in space and what the implication of this for future long-duration space missions.
These research projects also have terrestrial relevance, though, since they help us improve the material we use to do 3D printing and understand better how drugs interact with our own bodies.