Zeynep is currently a master’s student at Ruprecht Karls Universität in Heidelberg, majoring in developmental and stem cell biology. Her passion for stem cell research has allowed to her travel to many places. Earlier this year, Zeynep completed an internship at the Sainsbury Laboratory at the University of Cambridge (UK), where she published her first academic paper, titled “Widespread inter-individual gene expression variability in Arabidopsis thaliana”. Congrats! You can read it here in the science journal Molecular Systems Biology: https://www.embopress.org/doi/full/10.15252/msb.20188591
Now, in her final year of her degree, she is working on a project in Rudolf Jaenisch's laboratory in Cambridge (US) at the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research in affiliation with Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)!
She has also been awarded two scholarships; the first is the Avicenna-Studienwerk scholarship program, a state-sponsored scholarship in Germany supporting gifted and socially committed students. You can see her talk about it here: https://www.facebook.com/AvicennaStudienwerk/videos/1337493426349217?sfns=mo
The second is the KFP (Karriereförderprogramm für Frauen der Begabtenförderungswerke), a scholarship program supporting young and ambitious women in academia for leadership positions through mentoring and training.
After submitting her thesis at the Deutsches Krebsforschungszentrum (DKFZ), Zeynep would like to continue on to a PhD studying neuronal stem cells. Good luck!
Although born and raised in the northern parts of Germany without a close Uyghur community, she has done her best to support Uyghurs. Recently she introduced the Uyghur issue to the Muslim Student Associations at her university, and played a major role in fundraising for orphaned Uyghurs through a Ramadan dinner/Iftar in Heidelberg.
Zeynep is currently building up a network to connect fellow Uyghurs in science and medicine. The primary goal is to support, network, discover opportunities and learn from one another.
If you are an Uyghur in STEM and want to join the platform please message the Tarim Network and we will forward you the invite! Well done Zeynep and we hope to support you on your endeavours!