Photo:

Maria Konstantaki

Curriculum Vitae

  • School:

    Volos High School

  • University:

    University of Athens, Greece (PE and Sports Science,1988-1992), University of Sheffield (MSc Sports Coaching, 1994-1995), De Montfort University Bedford (PhD Exercise Physiology, 1997-2001), Buckinghamshire Chilterns University College (MA Learning and Teaching, 2004-2008)

  • Work History:

    De Montfort University, Bedford College, Reading University, Buckinghamshire New University

  • Employer:

    Buckinghamshire New University

  • Current Job:

    Lecturing and research

  • Favourite Thing:

    Run maximal tests where I exercise people to exhaustion, take blood samples for analysis, measure body fat levels.

  • Me and my work

    Research into sports nutrition

  • My Typical Day

    4-5 hours teaching lectures and labs, 2 hours admin, 2 hours lecture prep

    Read more

    Teaching in the classroom or the human performance lab followed by administrative work and student tutorials or meetings.

  • What I'd do with the money

    I would buy a ticket for the Olympics to watch the swimming events and conduct some research during the events.

    Read more

    Swimming has always been my passion. I was an athlete and now swim for recreation. I attended the swimming events in Beijing in 2008 while I carried out research on visitors’ experiences at the Games. In 2005 I also carried out research on the environmental and socio-cultural impact of the 2012 Games. I would like to follow up this research and the research I conducted in Beijing  but when I looked for tickets for the 2012 Olympics there were either sold out or sold at extortionate prices. With the £500 I could buy tickets to the swimming events and administer research questionnaires at the Olympic site.

  • My Interview

    • How would you describe yourself in 3 words?

      Diligent, hard working, friendly

      Would you rather be a scientist or an athlete? And why?

      I would rather be a scientist assisting athletes. Even though I like to exercise I do not want to be competitive so I enjoy helping others win competitions through sports science support.

      If you could have a body super power, what would it be and why?

      Which Olympic event would you most like to win? And why?

      100m butterfly – been my childhood dream!

      What did you want to be after you left school?

      I lingered between physical education teaching and archaeology but was an active sportswoman so the physical activity won in the end.

      Were you ever in trouble in at school?

      No, I was always very well behaved and attentive. I think being involved in sport helped me stay out of trouble.

      What's the best thing you've done as a scientist?

      Teaching exercise physiology to a variety of groups (pilots, dance teachers, coaches, motorsport enthusiasts)

      Tell us a joke.

      Two tomatoes walk down the street. A bus comes and runs over one of them. The other tomato says: ‘Come on ketchup!’

  • My profile link:
    https://11-19.imascientist.org.uk/profile/mariakonstantaki/

    Short link: https://ias.im/u.20806

    • Comments

    My Answered Questions

    Comments