From Athens to UCD and Beyond: Advancing Plant Science

I am Dr. Nikolaos Mastrodimos, a Greek plant scientist working as a Lecturer/ Assistant Professor in Horticulture at University College Dublin (UCD) and the Guangzhou-Dublin International College of Life Sciences and Technology (GDIC). My scientific expertise lies in Plant Pathology, with a predominant focus on Molecular Plant-Microbe Interactions and Fungal Effectors, Plant Hormones, and applications of Precision Agriculture. With extensive experience in both applied and fundamental research, I aim to bridge the gap between theoretical knowledge and practical solutions.

I attained an integrated a B.Sc.–M.Sc. (2011 – 2016) and an M.Sc. (2017–2019) degree in Crop Science and Plant Protection at the Agricultural University of Athens, Greece. I completed my PhD in Molecular Plant Pathology at UCD (2019 – 2024), where I also worked as a postdoctoral research assistant. Most recently, I was a postdoctoral scholar at University of California, Davis (UC Davis) in the United States (2024 – 2025).

To date, I have contributed, as a co-applicant, to a research grant (IKOPROTECTA – €545.256,00; 2019), and received a travel award from the British Society for Plant Pathology (£614; 2024). In addition, I have also presented my research work at multiple international conferences, such as the 31st Fungal Genetics Conference (US, 2022), the International Symposium on Cereal Leaf Blights (Tunisia, 2022), and the XX International Plant Protection Congress (Greece, 2024).

Besides research, I am passionate about teaching, mentoring, and student supervision. At GDIC, I will be teaching the modules Temperate Field Vegetable Production (HORT4016K), Nursery Production and Management (HORT4014K), and Landscape Management (HORT30040). My teaching philosophy is student-oriented, and I apply inquiry-based learning to cultivate critical thinking and spark students’ curiosity. As a supervisor and mentor, I guide my students to look beyond the statistical significance and identify the biological relevance of their data. I encourage them to formulate their own research questions, design experiments, and interpret results independently. I look forward to travelling to China, engaging with students, and building new research collaborations.