Finding the Stories Behind Science

I've always thought about the correlation between art and science, and how art can symbolize science in ways that add to it and make it more than just the trials or the data you try to interpret.

And that's where my story begins.

The Cycle Never Stops

As I say “spin coater”, I am also referring to part of my work, which involves the fabrication of perovskite tandem solar cells and exploring how incorporating new electron transport layer (ETL) materials could help achieve the stability we are working towards. That will be my challenge for the next two months.

But it doesn't start in the lab, and it never ends in the lab. The cycle is always continuous. Continuous in a way that gathers all your interests in energy materials and clean, sustainable sources, to working on photonic devices that use the speed of light and could ease the way for more applications in photovoltaics, information, and communication, to incorporating semiconductors that are now part of every device and going more generally into microelectronics and materials science that made all this possible to study and work on.

This cycle continues from working on simulations, studying every device's behavior, entering the clean room or the glovebox and fabricating each part. For me, it started by learning the function of the glovebox and how everything must be carefully cycled with nitrogen, almost as if you are in a spaceship. It continued with understanding how much time it takes to produce a perovskite solar cell, gathering all the materials and depositing each layer step by step using different techniques. It is learning how evaporators and atomic layer deposition (ALD) systems work on your samples, and how, after this long process, you can characterize everything into measurable data, starting with a solar simulator.

At HZB, I also came to appreciate that research extends beyond the laboratory. Seeing how years of research have led to proton therapy for eye cancer reminded me that today's research can become tomorrow's technology, benefiting people in ways we may not imagine at the beginning of a project.

Finding Your Voice

Lise Meitner was one of many women who fought for a place in the world of science. Her greatest challenge was not scientific, but the constant struggle to be allowed to learn, work, and belong. She had to sit at the back of the lecture hall so she would not distract her male classmates, and she spent years working without pay, even after becoming an accomplished physicist. Yet, she continued because of her love for science.

Her story reminds us of the challenges women have faced to follow their dreams and build careers in STEM.

It also brought back a memory of my own.

I once had a meeting with a woman in STEM, and she told me that one of her goals was to support women in STEM and help them reach their dreams. At the time, I remember thinking, “Why would she tell me that? We do that every day for ourselves.”

But when you really think about it, speaking up matters.

Making our support visible can encourage every woman who is trying to find her place in STEM. It can remind young girls that they can follow their dreams, fight for their work, and create change in their fields.

So, this is for every woman who feels she does not have a voice, and for every woman who has ever been doubted.

You are not alone.

You can always achieve it.

The People Behind Every Experience

Finally, experiences are never defined only by the experiments we carry out in the lab. They are shaped by the people who encourage us, guide us, and remind us that we are never walking the journey alone.

To my family, my supporter, my friends, those who helped me get here, the unexpected people we meet along the way, and everyone who leaves a positive mark on someone else's journey.

Thank you for being part of mine.

And to more experiences to come.