Antonia Vojtekova - YGT for Data Science on Archives

Tell us about your work experience in ESA so far. What does your role entail?

My journey in ESA/ESAC started at beginning of April 2019 when I got my six months traineeship. During this traineeship, we were working on applying machine learning to denoise and enhance simulated Hubble Space Telescope data. We finalised our project with paper and an internal presentation. After that, I went back to my UNI and finished my master's degree in astrophysics and when the time came I  applied for YGT positions.  And luckily enough I got the position and started in October 2020. During my time as YGT, I worked on several machine learning (ML) projects. In general, my job includes reading papers, learning and exploring the ways of implementing ML on data in archives.   Our first project was applying denoising network from my traineeship on real HST data and we have also explored the possibility to use it on Euclid data. After that we were curious about new projects including ML and ESA missions - so we extensively studied literature. And currently, I'm working on building a recommenders system for object search for ESASky users. So, my job has been diverse and challenging at times and I loved it!

What is the most exciting part of your job?

New projects. Every new projects involve learning something new, and during my time in ESA I had an opportunity to work on many different projects therefore I learned a lot of new things.

What advice would you give to girls interested in pursuing a career or studies in STEM?

Go for it! Be curious and learn about the world and enjoy it.  Sometimes it will be hard, but that is life. I believe it is important to challenge yourself, to try new and exciting things. Also, I think you should not let your gender or the opinions of others define your future and your choices.

How do you imagine the future of space exploration?

I think it is very unpredictable. What I hope for is that in my lifetime we will be able to detect some biosignatures in the atmosphere of exoplanets, understand the physics of the black hole and explore the use of AI in space exploration.  I think we have a lot of exciting discoveries ahead of us and I cannot wait to see them all.