I was born in Izmir, Turkey in 1990. I have completed my bachelor degree and PhD degrees in Turkey in Molecular biology and genetics.
Afterwards, I moved to Cologne, Germany to work as postdoctoral researcher. Initially I thought it would be easier for me to adapting due to there are quite a lot of Turkish people living in there and it’s very close in terms of the travelling means. The science culture was wild, adaptation to normal life was easy however working life was overwhelming. At the end of my initial contract l had to returned back to my country.
In my own country there is not much opportunity for science due to the exchange rates and consumables prices make difficult to do research in whole country. Limited amount of grants and positions in faculties make almost impossible to live in Turkey as researcher for one.
I have applied in a job opening in Dundee Scotland as PDRA and got accepted in the middle of the pandemic. I changed my country once again hoping the best, especially after dealing with tones of documentation process and visa.
So far, I have met great people in Scotland embracing me as I am and making me feel accepted both in scientific environment where I work and in my daily life. Due to the limited time for PDRA contracts, I do not know until when I will be enjoying my time in Scotland also in the UK. However, I am happy for each and every minutes I am spending here as an immigrant.

- Nur, Dundee