Student testimonial
Student Nikolaos Tziolas - MSc Geo-information Science
I have studied in the School of Agriculture of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki in Greece. Attending the department of Hydraulics, Soil Science and Agricultural Engineering gave me the opportunity to deal with geographic information systems and as I recall even today they caught my interest immediately.
It was really helpful that during the courses we were brought in contact with companies and research institutes to explore various career prospects
Hence, after obtaining my BSc degree I decided to follow a master programme, in order to develop my knowledge even further. I considered that the Geo-Information Science was the perfect bridge between my previous studies and my career interests. Furthermore, the Netherlands has a very good reputation in the field of agriculture, hence, the master Geo-Information Science at Wageningen University was a logical choice for me.
Experiences and courses
From my first day in courses I got in touch with a "palette" of students from all over the world. Studying in a multicultural environment with people who have completely different backgrounds, habits and abilities is really inspiring for me because it generates interesting discussions and collaborations. In addition, the supervisors are always enthusiastic to assist and motivate you to explore new things. In the light of the above, I am sure that MGI programme offers an excellent opportunity to improve your ability to function in a professional world.
I really enjoyed the first year of this master because of the variety of lectures, practicals and field works offered in order to explore the geographic information systems and earth observation imagery. This provided me not only restricted with technical skills but also with communication and team working skills, as well as with development of project planning. However, the flexibility of this master meant that there are several paths to take in order to tailor the programme in accordance to my personal interests. Hence, I also chose courses to obtain specialized knowledge in data management and analysis of land use systems in order to be able to be involved in answering, dealing with and monitoring problems that emerge in rural sector and environment.
Future steps
After completing the 1st year of my studies, I realized that remote sensing enables me to perform research in the field of agricultural science much more efficiently. Therefore, I decided to focus on this field during my thesis. The goal of my thesis is to determine whether the information that related to plant characteristics and crop phenology observed with the use of satellites, can be applied to estimate crop yields and to be linked to precision agriculture. Simultaneously, performing analysis on a scripting language gives me also the opportunity to broaden my knowledge and skills.
The final step before the graduation is to do an internship. It was really helpful that during the courses Geo-information department brings us in contact with a wide range of companies and research institutes, in order to realize and explore various career prospects. At the current state I am not completely sure if I want to make my internship in the Netherlands or abroad. Moreover, conducting research and discovering new things is really inspiring for me and I believe that my experience in MGI programme provide me with all the requirements for my career as a researcher.