Meet Spyridoula Karyda, Prix de la Fondation du Mérite Européen Laureate and second last candidate of the FDEF Award Winner Q&A. Spyridoula has successfully completed her Master in Space, Communication and Media Law (L.LLM.) in 2020.
Q: Can you tell us a little more about yourself?
A: My name is Spyridoula Karyda and I am from Greece. I am an associate councilor judge at the Supreme Administrative Court of Greece (Council of State). At University of Luxembourg I pursued a Master in Space, Communication and Media Law ( LL.M.).
Q: Besides the Prix de la Fondation du Mérite Européen, what was your greatest achievement as a student?
A: While studying for my LL.M. I developed a particular interest in combining space law with privacy and data protection law as processing big Space Data (Earth Observation and Location Data) may raise considerable issues with regard to privacy. My LL.M. thesis was on this topic of rethinking privacy in European Space Law and shed light on Copernicus and Galileo -the new EU space ‘flagship’ programmes- with regard to EU Data Protection Law.
Q: Tell us about a teacher / mentor who made an impact on you or set you on your present path.
A: To begin with, I would like to thank my thesis advisor Prof. Dr. Mahulena Hofmann. When I first proposed this topic she immediately supported my choice and encouraged me to further investigate this seemingly intriguing relationship between space and data protection law. Prof. Dr. Mahulena Hofmann also introduced me to this very interesting topic of Space and Satellite/ Communication Law. Finally, I would like to thank my thesis supervisor Dr. Antonino Salmeri who gave me in the first place the inspiration and confidence to develop my Master Thesis by reassuring me that privacy issues and international space law are closely related.
Q: You graduated last year, what are you doing now?
A: My wish is to continue my research and share my knowledge with people all over the world.