Written by Abigail Lee and Maryum Sayeed for Astrobites
Dr. Burçin Mutlu-Pakdil received her Bachelor's of Science in physics from Bilkent University in Turkey and her PhD in astrophysics from the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities. Her research on faint dwarf galaxies led to the discovery of a double-ringed elliptical galaxy, now called, Burçin's Galaxy. Credit: TED Fellows 2018.
Dr. Burçin Mutlu-Pakdil first became interested in astronomy during a homework assignment in middle school when she was asked to write an essay on her “ideal person.” At first, Dr. Mutlu-Pakdil didn’t have anyone specific in mind, but knew she wanted to grow up to be “the cleverest person in the world.” Her sister suggested researching Albert Einstein, and Dr. Mutlu-Pakdil dove into learning about his life. The more she read about physics, the more she became obsessed with black holes, galaxies, and the Universe. This homework assignment would mark the beginning of Dr. Mutlu-Pakdil’s path to becoming an astrophysicist.
She went on to receive her B.S. in Physics from Bilkent University in Turkey. After graduating, she moved to the U.S. to pursue a Master’s degree at Texas Tech University. She then received her Ph.D. in Astrophysics from the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities, where she studied the relationship between galaxies and black holes. Throughout her career, she has won many accolades, including being named one of the Ten Outstanding Persons of the World, awarded the TED Fellowship in 2018 and the Senior TED Fellowship in 2020, being named a AAAS IF/THEN Ambassador, and being awarded the KICP (Kavli Institute for Cosmological Physics) Postdoctoral Research Fellowship and an NSF Postdoctoral Fellowship. She has been featured in National Geographic, Marie Claire magazine, the film documentary Breakthrough: Portraits of Women in Science, and her TED talk has accumulated over 2.5 million views.
Read the rest of the article at: https://astrobites.org/2022/04/10/template-post-10/
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