The little girl in this photo is 6 years old and started her school life on the day the photo was taken. She went on to become one of the youngest women professors in Turkey at the age of 36.
I am Seda Keskin Avcı, a professor at the Chemical and Biological Engineering Department of Koc University, Istanbul, Turkey. I am also the Associate Dean for Research at the College of Engineering. I am still that little girl who likes the movie Finding Nemo so much that I named my research group, Nanomaterials, Energy and Molecular Modeling Research Group (NEMO). My group works on the atomistic modeling of porous materials for energy applications, mainly for CO2 capture to stop global warming for a better world for all of us.
I like to research everything, read everything I find, take notes, do calculations, look at atoms for hours to understand their interactions, and prepare enjoyable experiments in the kitchen for my 7 year-old daughter. I am still very much excited, as if I am teaching for the first time in the class or presenting at a conference after almost 12 years.
However, I am now mature enough to stay calm when I find out that a paper was rejected or a proposal was not funded. I feel very lucky about working with bright young minds, investigating and learning together, every day from the beginning.
If I had the chance to call out to the girl whose photo was taken with fear in her eyes on the very first day of school life, I would say “You are very strong like all the little girls in the world, you are beautiful inside and out. You will work hard to achieve, you will fall from time to time, but you will stand up stronger. As long as you trust science, follow your curiosity with passion, dream and believe in yourself, you will be very happy. You already have wings, you will fly!”
