All entries will be judged by their respective national judging panel consisting of highly experienced evaluators. More specifically, each national judging panel consists of science teachers, experts on space exploration and education professionals employed at a secondary school, college/university, or other educational program with a background in science.

The international scientific committee also consists of experts on space exploration and education professionals with background in science. Coaches of teams registered in the Odysseus contest are not permitted to participate as judges.

International Jury

Prof. Jean-Pierre Swings	Jean-Pierre Swings is Honorary Professor at the University of Liege (Belgium) where he obtained his Master’s degree in space engineering and his PhD and DSc in astrophysics. Between the latter two, he spent three years of post-doctoral fellowships in JILA (Boulder, Colorado) and at the Hale Observatories (Pasadena, California). His subjects of interest are solar physics, emission-line and/or infrared excess objects, extragalactic astrophysics, space research, (very) large telescopes and their instrumentation, solar system exploration, etc. He gradually switched from observational astrophysics to “astropolitics”, as General Secretary of the International Astronomical Union, member of numerous committees of the European Space Agency; of the European Southern Observatory of which he was Council member for 17 years and involved in the advisory structure of the Very Large Telescope project and the selection of its site; and also of the European Astronomical Society of which he was one of the four founders . Jean-Pierre Swings is currently Chairman of the European Space Sciences Committee of the European Science Foundation and member of the Space Advisory Group of the European Commission 7th Framework Program.
Frank De Winne	Frank De Winne is an ESA astronaut. He was an experienced test pilot with the Belgian Air Force before he joined the Astronaut Corps of the European Space Agency, whose homebase is the European Astronaut Centre Department in Cologne, Germany. In 2002, De Winne participated in the Odissea mission, a support flight to the International Space Station ISS. During the 11-day mission, he carried out a programme of 23 experiments. De Winne’s second mission took place from May to December 2009, a long-duration spaceflight to the ISS called OasISS. During this flight De Winne became the first European Commander of the ISS. One of his key tasks was to be one of the 2 operators of the Stations’robotic arm used for docking the first Japanese Cargo Transfer Vehicle. During the mission, a comprehensive utilisation and outreach programme was implemented dedicated to science. On August 1, 2012 De Winne became Head of the European Astronaut Centre Department. Born 1961 in Ghent, Belgium, De Winne is married and has three children.
Prof. Arnold Hanslmeier	Professor Hanslmeier is the head of the Institute of Physics, Karl Franzens University Graz. His publications include 312 query results in NASA/ADS and he is the author of six books (Astronomie, Gefahr von der Sonne, Einfuhrung in Astronomieund Astrophysik, The Sun and Space Weather, Ultraviolet radiation in the solar system, Habitability and Cosmic Catastrophes) and editor of three more (Motions in the Solar Atmosphere, The Dynamic Sun, Solar magnetic phenomena). Prof. Hanslmeier was also visiting professor at the Observatoire Midi Pyrenees, Toulouse/Tarbes; at University of Innsbruck; at Instituto de Astro_sica de Canarias and at the University of Vienna;
Dr. Manolis Georgoulis	Dr. Manolis K. Georgoulis is a researcher at the Research Center for Astronomy and Applied Mathematics of the Academy of Athens. Moreover, he is the Greek National Delegate to the Science Programme Committee of the European Space Agency (ESA/SPC) (2011 – present), Vice-President of the European Solar Physics Division (ESPD) of the European Physical Society (EPS) (2011 – 2014), Appointed member of the Greek National Committee for Astronomy (GNCA) (2012 – present), and Marie Curie Fellow of the European Commission (2010 – 2014). He holds a B.Sc. (Physics) from the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (1993), a Ph.D. (solar plasma physics) from the same institution (2000). Dr Georgoulis was PostDoctoral Research Associate at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (JHU/APL) in Laurel, MD, USA (2000 – 2003). Thereafter a Senior Professional Staff Physicist at the same institution (2003 – 2009). Honored with a Special Achievement Award (JHU/APL, 2007), an ERASMUS Scholarship of the European Astrophysical Doctoral Network (EADN, 1996 – 1997), and a Ph.D. Scholarship of the Greek National Foundation of Scholarships (IKY, 1996 – 2000). He has participated in the Science Team of three NASA and two ESA space missions, including a Deputy Project Scientist position in the Solar Probe Plus (SPP) mission (2008 – 2009), currently built at JHU/APL.
Prof. Athena Coustenis	Athena Coustenis is Director of Research with the National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS) of France. Her speciality is Planetology (exploration of the Solar System from ground-based and space observations). Her astronomy research is devoted to the investigation of planetary atmospheres and surfaces, with emphasis on Titan, Saturn’s satellite, having many similarities with that of our own planet. She also works on exoplanets. In the recent years she has been leading efforts towards future space missions.
Dr. Stamatios M. Krimigis	Dr. Stamatios Krimigis received his B. Physics from the University of Minnesota (1961), his M.S (1963) and Ph.D. (1965) in Physics from the University of Iowa, and served on the faculty there. In 1968 he moved to the Applied Physics laboratory of Johns Hopkins University, became Space Department Head in 1991, and Emeritus Head in 2004. He is Principal Investigator on several NASA spacecraft, including Voyagers 1 and 2 to the Outer Planets and the Voyager Interstellar Mission, and the Cassini-Huygens mission to Saturn and Titan. He has designed and built instruments that have flown to all eight planets, and also the New Horizons mission currently headed to Pluto. He has published more than 500 papers in journals and books on the physics of the sun, interplanetary medium, planetary magnetospheres, and the heliosphere. He is recipient of NASA’s Exceptional Scientific Achievement Medal twice, is a Fellow of the American Physical Society, American Geophysical Union, American Association for the Advancement of Science, and American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, recipient of COSPAR’s Space Science Award in 2002, a recipient of the Basic Sciences Award of the International Academy of Astronautics where he chairs the Board of Trustees for Basic Sciences, an Academician at the Academy of Athens since 2005 occupying the Chair of “Science of Space”, and chairman of Greece’s National Council of Research and Technology.

National Evaluation Panels