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A boffin on a bike. Astrophysicist Anja Andersson is on a mission into space.

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In the Danish capital of Copenhagen, she's exploring one of the most intriguing secrets currently preoccupying the world of astrophysics.

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That's for the research of what's called dark matter and dark energy in the universe.

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Experiments with dust particles in the laboratory help Anja to explain how the universe, the stars and the planets were formed.

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But with her team in the Dark Cosmology Center, she's also using satellite data to search for indications of so far unknown forms of energy and matter in space.

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There's a great revolution going on in astronomy and actually our whole concept of how the universe was formed and how it develops

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and what the future of the universe will be have changed significantly over the past five years.

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The whole concept of dark energy actually means that the universe is not only expanding, it's accelerating.

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And that's a completely new concept because it means that the traditional idea people liked about Big Bang

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that you could get an expanding universe which would then contract and then you could start off a new universe.

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That's no longer a possible interpretation of the Big Bang scenario with the dark energy

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because what you have there is an expanding universe that will keep expanding.

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The universe of much smaller dimensions, in fact a million times smaller than a grain of sand, are fascinating Italian scientist Alessandra Parvizio.

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She heads a research department of a major pharmaceutical company near Padua in Italy.

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She's exploring the medical applications of nanotechnology.

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The research we're doing is intertissue engineering.

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We use biodegradable materials of natural origin which have been grown with cells in the lab.

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What we're trying to do is to regenerate that tissue in order to use it under real life conditions outside the lab.

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Making robots smarter and autonomous is the aim of Gaelle Corvo and Aurelie Claudique

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at France's Institute of Systems Analysis in Toulouse.

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While robots are already commonplace in factories, the development of more intelligent systems,

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able to interact with humans, is still quite new.

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While Gaelle is working as the project manager, Aurelie is developing programs for the robot

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to enable it to be more interactive with its environment.

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I'm working on the decision-making system for this robot and its ability to observe its surroundings.

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We're trying to make the different algorithms or procedures work together

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so that the robot recognizes its location and can move independently.

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In my opinion, a robot in an industrial environment normally performs repetitive acts.

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Its actions are predetermined and precise.

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In our project, we are developing robots which will be able to choose on its own how to act.

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Aurelie and Gaelle are working in a research field which is still dominated by men.

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In order to succeed, they've had to sacrifice their private lives for their scientific careers.

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In all types of work, having a family is very demanding.

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For example, one has to get home at a reasonable time in the evening, etc.

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Scientific research is no different.

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What's difficult is when one has to go on a mission far from home,

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and that mission can take days or even weeks.

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For women, it is very, very difficult to combine a family life with a professional life.

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You always have to make compromises between them and try not to let one area suffer.

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But in some northern European countries, it's the father who is faced with making difficult choices.

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Alessandra has decided to make her career her priority.

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She has managerial responsibilities and works on scientific committees in Europe.

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She thinks that too many women get lost on the way to the top jobs when they get distracted by home life.

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To create something from scratch and to follow it through takes a lot of energy, time and passion.

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A lot of time.

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One has to dedicate a large part of one's life to the cause.

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But Anja has managed to combine her career with a family.

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Finding the right partner who was willing to take his share of duties was crucial in raising three children

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and being able to work in one of the most exciting fields in astrophysics.

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25% of the astronomers worldwide are women, so I think we're not doing that bad.

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And here at the Institute, at the Niels Bohr Institute, 25% of our PhD students are women.

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So there's actually a good percentage of PhD students in science coming out.

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And in Europe as a whole, I think it's about 40% of the women holding a PhD degree in science.

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So, I mean, that's doing well. So the recruiting pool is there.

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I think things are changing.

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There are many more women who are capable of managing both a professional life and a private one.

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And of course the technology helps a lot.

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You can be doing your job even if you're not at your place of work.

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Mobile phones and the Internet allow you to work anywhere.

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And there's now a new work culture which also helps.

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In order to attract more women to a career in science, Anja is trying to pass on her enthusiasm for research.

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She organises exhibitions and contributes to the making of scientific TV programmes for children in Denmark.

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She also takes her own youngsters to the new science museum in Copenhagen called the Experimentium.

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The science community, I think, women are accepted.

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And I don't have the feeling that there's any prejudice.

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It's not like it's an old boys' club who deliberately try to keep out women.

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For women to reach the top jobs, they have to be determined.

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If they have a supportive family, they'll get there.

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I think governments at European and national levels should ensure a real equality between the sexes,

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particularly for managerial positions.

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This is missing.

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Otherwise one risks having only male managers.

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So there does seem to be a tendency that women can at least not be significantly worse than the men if they're going to acquire a position.

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It's a bit tough, hard for me to say whether I'm smarter than all the guys, but I don't feel more stupid than all the guys.

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Discovering nature's secrets and building a better tomorrow is what drives Anja and her fellow female scientists.

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Increasingly, women are taking up the opportunity to work in this area

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and are turning their enthusiasm for science into a successful career.