A Rainbow on the Way Home

When I arrived at HZB for the International Summer Student Programme, I expected to learn about chemistry, new instruments, and research techniques. During the welcome event, each of us received a small gift bag. Inside was a sticker that read, "Science is Diverse."

At first, it seemed like a simple slogan. I put it on my laptop and did not think much about it. But unlike most stickers people collect and forget, this one stayed in my mind. I found myself taking its message seriously. If HZB believed that diversity was an essential part of science, what did that actually mean beyond the laboratory?

What does diversity look like?

A few weeks later, Christopher Street Day arrived in Berlin. I had already arranged to go with some friends. The more I thought about it, the more I felt tempted to see it for myself. In a strange way, that little sticker had pushed me to step outside my comfort zone. I wanted to understand what diversity looked like when it was not just written on a laptop, but lived in public.

Christopher Street Day turned out to be unlike anything I had ever experienced. Hundreds of thousands of people filled the streets in every color imaginable. Music echoed from enormous trucks, people danced together, and rainbow flags covered buildings and balconies throughout the city. Standing there with my friends, I expected to feel excited.

Instead, I felt hesitant. That feeling had little to do with Berlin and everything to do with where I grew up. Iran has never been a uniform country. It is home to Persians, Azeris, Kurds, Lurs, Baluchis, Turkmens, Arabs, Gilaks, Mazandaranis, and many other communities, each with its own language, traditions, music, and way of life. Yet for decades, the Islamic Republic has tried to shape society into one acceptable identity, one acceptable appearance, one acceptable way of speaking, believing, and behaving. When differences are discouraged, people learn to hide them. 

Growing up, I often heard about underground parties held secretly in basements or remote locations. Invitations spread quietly among trusted friends. Music stayed low enough not to attract attention. Someone usually watched the entrance in case the morality police arrived. Expressing yourself publicly was not something people took for granted. It was something that had to remain hidden. Standing at the edge of the Pride parade, I realized how different Berlin was.

Visibility

Here, people expressed themselves openly. They wore rainbow flags on their shoulders, painted colors across their faces, and celebrated who they were in front of complete strangers without fear of being stopped or questioned. It was not simply a celebration. It was visibility. For several minutes, I simply watched.

Then an older man standing nearby noticed me looking around, smiled, and handed me a small rainbow flag. He did not ask who I was or why I was there. He simply shared it with me, as though it were the most ordinary thing in the world. That simple gesture stayed with me.

Different perspectives are welcome

Our laboratory brought together people from Germany, Turkey, India, Pakistan, China, and several other countries. Everyone had different experiences, different ways of approaching problems, and different perspectives shaped by their own backgrounds. Conversations shifted naturally between languages. Different opinions were welcomed rather than avoided. None of those differences prevented us from doing good science. If anything, they made the science better.

Different people asked different questions. Someone noticed a mistake another person overlooked. Another researcher suggested a completely different way of interpreting a result. Progress came from combining perspectives rather than eliminating them. That was when I finally understood the meaning of the sticker on my laptop.

Not just a slogan

"Science is Diverse" was not just a slogan printed for a welcome event. It described how science actually works. Scientific progress depends on people who think differently, come from different places, and challenge each other's assumptions. Diversity is not decoration. It is one of the reasons better ideas emerge.

Responsibility in science is not only about conducting experiments honestly or reporting results accurately. It is also about creating an environment where different voices are able to contribute. Discoveries that improve the world are rarely the product of one perspective alone. 

I arrived in Germany expecting to learn chemistry. Instead, one of the most valuable lessons I learned came from a small sticker, a rainbow flag, and a walk through the streets of Berlin.

I still do not know exactly how to carry that lesson home but I still have the flag.