Erini Leriou, Scientific Coordinator, Principal Investigator and Project Manager of the Research Program “C.W.-SMILE”
Member of the International Society for Quality of Life Studies (ISQOLS) and the Community Indicators Consortium (CIC).
1. First, list your current professional title. Second, describe your background, experience, and research as it relates to Quality-of-life studies. Feel free to describe this in detail.
From 2004-2009 I studied Public Administration with emphasis on Public Finance at Panteion University of Athens, Greece. In 2011 I received my Master’s Degree in Economic Sciences. During my post-graduate studies, I became interested in welfare economics as advanced by Arthur Cecil Pigou. In 2016 I completed my Doctoral Dissertation (Analysis of the factors that determine social welfare by implementing an integrated decision-making framework). From 2016 till 2018 I conducted my Postdoctoral Research (Foreign trade and welfare in the Greek economy and in European Union countries).
The period of my doctoral studies coincided with the austerity measures imposed on Greece by its creditors. These measures had a negative impact on the quality of life of Greek citizens, especially children. Without intending it, my dissertation had practical implications for the improvement of the quality of life. In the same way, it helped me to identify several research gaps in the field of studies in children’s well-being, in Greece. In 2018 I received a grant from the Hellenic Foundation for Research and Innovation (HFRI) and the General Secretariat for Research and Technology (GSRT), for the research program “C.W.-SMILE”, in order to measure well- being of children in the Attica region of Greece. The goal of this research project is to come up with proposals aimed at the improvement of children’s quality of life. Even though my grant ends in August of 2021, my research will continue along the same lines but this time to measure the impact of the recent pandemic (COVID-19) on the quality of life of the children in the same region.
On another note, Ιhave several years of teaching experience with both undergraduates and postgraduates in the field of economics (e.g. Welfare Indexes in Regional Development, Economic Development and Human Well-Being, Public Finance, Microeconomic Analysis, etc.)
My future dream is to cooperate with the world’s top experts in the field of quality of life studies.
2. What initially attracted you to the field of quality-of-life studies?
Initially I was taken by Aristotle’s question of what makes people happy. He was the one who identifies in his Politics and Nicomachean Ethics what it is that makes for a person’s overall sense of well-being.
3. What are some areas of quality-of-life studies you feel are lacking attention? Any advice for future QoL researchers?
I believe there is insufficient attention to research on children’s quality of life in urban centers, especially in those afflicted by a specific crisis. My advice would be to develop a very strong sense (definition) of the meaning of “the quality of life”. With this sense in place, the conduct of any research study would be fundamentally sound.
4. How long have you been a member of ISQOLS? Why did you choose to be a member of ISQOLS? How has your involvement in ISQOLS impacted your career/research/advancement in your knowledge of QoL studies?
I have been a member for two years. I first heard about ISQOLS from professor Alex Michalos whom I visited in November of 2018, in conjunction with the qualitative dimension of my research on children’s quality of life. Upon my return to Athens I joined ISQOLS. As a member of this research community I discovered how wonderful it is to belong to this friendly circle of people, collaborating for a common goal, supporting one another’s efforts and benefit from the collective energy. Personally, I gained a great deal of benefits from its support in two conferences I organized in Athens as well as a research paper I did.
5. Feel free to include any other important comments or things you'd like to share with the ISQOLS community.
In the summer of 2021, I will organize in Athens an International, Virtual Conference on Children’s Quality of Life. Looking forward to seeing all of you in this event.
