Despite her young age, she has a crystal-clear vision of what her ideal future should look like. She dreams of working for a space agency and talking about human space exploration with Elon Musk. Here’s our interview with Giorgia Cucina, one of 2021 Dompé Foundation scholarship winners and student of the Master's programme in Biomedical Omics at La Statale in Milan.

Describe yourself in one word

Ambitious: I set seemingly impossible goals and use them to encourage self-improvement and personal growth.

What does Biomedical Omics mean to you?

It means innovation, the possibility to do something meaningful in the future and achieve important goals for the community. It especially means to contribute to increasing knowledge in a field that has experienced a very fast growth over the past decades.

What do you love the most about your degree so far?

The variety of approaches to study a complex topic, the positive student-faculty interaction and the possibility to study things which are extremely relevant today.

What is your dream job?

I would love to work for the European Space Agency or other space agencies. This would give me the chance to study in detail the responses of the body to extreme conditions, as well as to develop new drugs and tools in a high-tech environment.

Who would you have dinner with if you could have it with any person, living or dead?

With Elon Musk to better grasp his overall vision and plans for the future of human space exploration.

You reaction when you learnt about the scholarship

I was surprised, very grateful and touched. I felt appreciated and fulfilled as I had been rewarded for my hard work and strong commitment as a university student.

Name one thing on your bucket list

I would really love to visit places that haven’t yet been explored or contaminated by mankind.

What’s your latest hobby?

Trail running, which is basically mountain running.

What would your ideal superpower be?

Ubiquity. This would give me the chance to do whatever I want, without having to choose among different options, and therefore never miss an opportunity.