I returned to Romania with the objective of building an internationally competitive research group in the field of GIScience. Started in 2011, the work towards this objective has crystallized several lines of investigation, which will be followed in the next years.

I started corresponding with Professor Petru Urdea in the 1980s and I have visited Timisoara several times since, giving talks on glaciation. I also visited Dr. Lucian Dragut when he was in Salzburg, and have cooperated on the segmentation of land surfaces, the selection of geomorphometric variables, and on transformations of curvatures and slope gradients.

The main credit of prof. Lucian Dragut and his team I see in unique utilization of object-based image analysis in geomorphometry. Developed methods of land surface segmentation are from the most promising in the world-wide context. Innovative approaches, high international standard of research as well as cooperation with foremost personalities and workplaces in abroad make up the top geoscience team in the Central-East Europe.

As an involved lecturer in “Project Management in the framework of GI Science” since the winter semester 2010/2011 I have seen students constantly improving their skills, knowledge and experiences in GI Science. Recently one out of many still active contacts resulted in a co-supervision engagement of a PhD, demonstrating the good learning and development skills at the West University of Timisoara.

I try to motivate the students and to make them understand what can be reached with GIS and mobile technology. To be successful in a career in GIS, you need to form a constantly willingness to learn. At GIS Master programme in Timisoara we are not educating students for a particular job profile, but to create the premise for study and self-education.