As part of the 10th National Antarctic Scientific Expedition organized under the auspices of the Presidency, under the responsibility of the Ministry of Industry and Technology and under the coordination of TÜBİTAK MAM Polar Research Institute, expedition coordinator Prof. Burcu Özsoy spoke on the occasion of February 11, the International Day of Women and Girls in Science.
Burcu Özsoy, who first set foot in Antarctica in 2006 during her doctoral studies in the United States, said that the number of Turkish scientists involved in polar studies at that time was no larger than the fingers of two hands and that the change in this field over the past 20 years was remarkable.
Özsoy stated that after returning to Türkiye in 2010, he conducted studies on the institutionalization of polar research and founded the Polar Research Center at Istanbul Technical University in 2015.
The scientist Prof. Dr. Özsoy said that Türkiye's polar projects were launched in 2017 under the patronage of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and began implementation under the coordination of the Ministry of Industry and Technology.
“Almost half of the team consists of female scientists”
Stating that Türkiye conducted its 10th Antarctic scientific expedition, Özsoy pointed out that more than 200 Turkish scientists had the opportunity to conduct scientific research in Antarctica during this period. Emphasizing that almost half of the science team involved in the current expeditions are women scientists, Özsoy said: “This is a very good indicator of how women have come to the top in science.” gave his assessment.
Prof. explained that there is great interest throughout Türkiye in the polar research tenders opened by TÜBİTAK in secondary schools. Dr. Özsoy stated that they had received thousands of project applications. Özsoy stated that the teams selected from the projects evaluated in four main categories: earth sciences, life sciences, natural sciences and social sciences were awarded the right to conduct field research in Antarctica, and in this context, high school students were also included in the science expeditions.
“All the first high school students to go to Antarctica were girls.”
Özsoy pointed out that all the first high school students who went to Antarctica were female students and said: “We had three high school students from Antalya in the first year and from Samsun in the second year. This table shows how strong the interest of female students in science is.” he said.
Prof. Dr. Emphasizing that female researchers and academics are actively involved in this field, Özsoy pointed out that Türkiye's polar program also strengthens international cooperation and that Turkish scientists conduct joint studies with researchers from different countries while carrying out their own projects.
“My motivation is young people”
Özsoy elaborated on the motivation behind his challenging work in Antarctica, explaining that he had a three-year-old child when he first traveled to the poles and that the process was challenging both scientifically and humanely.
Prof. Dr. Özsoy said: “During my first Antarctic experience, it was not easy to leave my child behind and do science on site. However, when I returned to Türkiye after successfully completing this process, I realized more clearly how important it is for Turkish scientists to carry out these studies with our own national program.” he said.
Özsoy emphasized that Türkiye's own polar program is one of the greatest sources of motivation and explained that the bond with young people and students is the factor that motivates him the most. Özsoy said: “My biggest motivation today is that students ask questions about Antarctica and science and are interested in this field. In fact, I can say that young people are my motivation.” gave his assessment.
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