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Maarit Korpi-Lagg: I have so few female colleagues that sometimes it’s difficult to maintain self-esteem

In this video, Professor of Astroinformatics Maarit Korpi-Lagg shares her childhood dream and how it feels to work in the midst of the many male researchers and professors.
Maarit Korpi-Lagg, photo by by Matti Ahlgren
‘My biggest dream since I was a child was to understand astronomical objects. Then, I have focused most of my career in understanding the sun,' says Maarit Korpi-Lagg. Photo: Matti Ahlgren.

'It’s of course a daunting task for a female professor to do something as great as these recognised professors. Sometimes it’s difficult to maintain self-esteem in a situation where there are so few female colleagues. Both in physics and computer science there are very few female researchers and professors. Last year we had a celebration because the first female student passed my course. It was a big thing for me,' says Professor Maarit Korpi-Lagg.

The video has been produced by the European Commission and it has been directed by Kasia and Dawid Kissinger.

Maarit Korpi-Lagg turned her childhood hobbies into a living

As a child, Maarit Korpi-Lagg was interested in the stars and coding, and now she researches the activity of the sun, which could not be done without computer science

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Nainen seisoo ja katsoo sivulle hymyillen kädet puuskassa. Hänellä on päällään musta paita ja sininen huivi ja aurinko värjää taustaa vaaleaksi.

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Walk in my shoes

Inspired by the saying that you should walk a mile in someone’s shoes to understand them, the ‘Walk in my shoes’ series aims to share some of the experiences, thoughts, perspectives and challenges...

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Walk in my shoes, illustration by Anna Muchenikova.
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From left: Prof. Stefan Weinzierl (TU Berlin), Prof. Johannes M. Arend (Aalto University), and Prof. Christoph Pörschmann (TH Köln) after the Lothar-Cremer Award ceremony at DAGA 2026 in Dresden, Germany.
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ACRIS service restored

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