X-Cited Science Magazine - No:2

Science Talk
An Interview with Uluç Kadıoğlu
20
you. As another piece of advice, if
you do a project like this, search
for people, or professors that made
investigations about the topic you
chose for your project. You can
reach a professor at the university
you want to go to or at any of
them, you can send an e-mail and
introduce yourself. If your personal
conditions are suitable, you can ask
them to work with them in summer.
Moreover, without going abroad, you
can do similar research in Turkey,
too.
What did you do when you came
along with some unexpected
problems or issues?
Of course, there were times when I
got stuck in the experiment process,
but I never gave up thanks to the
help I received from my teachers,
the people around me, and the
replies of experts to my questions
about the process. Although some
of the experts didn’t reply to my
e-mails, I kept sending e-mails to
various people. I always believed
that someone would reply to me
in the end. In one instance, I had
to measure the worm’s length,
but because of its structure, it
was impossible to estimate 100%
correctly. I used a special device
and drew lines to find its length
under a microscope. In the end, I
obtained a nearly accurate result. To
conduct this experiment, I needed
some specialized equipment and
materials, and my teachers provided
them for me. In short, when I felt
lost or encountered an error, I didn’t
give up and tried to find support
from others.
Have you ever encountered
challenges regarding support,
guidance or finances? If so, what
did you do? Do you have any
recommendations for what to do?
Yes, I have encountered such
complications. In fact, that’s the
reason why I started my journey in
9 th grade but had to postpone it until
11th grade. For financial difficulties,
I can advise you to do internships
or work as a research assistant at a
university next to an academician.
You may also keep the project idea
a bit simpler. That way, it would
be both easier for you to work on
as a high school student and a lot
cheaper and easier to work on.
As for support and guidance, it is
very important to have someone, a
teacher with you. Additionally, the
school’s philosophy is important,
too. The school bought one or two
supplies and equipment for me to
use in the project. Ms. Belgin and
I went to Kayseri together as well.
She helped me a lot, I cannot thank
her enough. The teacher that helped
us who worked in Yıldız Technical
University was also a friend of Ms.
Belgin, and she was the one who
helped me work in the labs there.
The academician at the university
also supported me a lot. So, find a
teacher like her. If you want to go to
competitions or such, you need to
find a guidance teacher anyway. In