Our faculty's Chemistry Department faculty member Prof. Dr. Yaşar GÖK conducted a talk titled Reverse Brain Drain in Academia: Prof. Dr. Yaşar GÖK, sharing his experiences as a scholarship doctoral student at Ghent University in Belgium, where he won a scholarship from the Belgian government, and how his academic career shaped afterwards.
In the talk attended by students from the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Prof. Dr. Yaşar GÖK continued his remarks by addressing the local impact of global knowledge with the following statements.
"Science is universal; the language of the laboratory and the logic of formulas are the same everywhere in the world. However, the way this science is produced, the research culture, and the vision differ from country to country. Today, I am here not only as an academic but as a Turkish citizen who years ago packed his dreams into a suitcase and crossed borders, returning home with every piece of knowledge and experience he learned there in his 'saddlebag'. Pursuing a doctorate abroad is not just about obtaining an academic degree; it is about learning to see the world through a different lens, experiencing scientific discipline in its harshest form, and becoming part of a universal network. However, true success begins when you can connect one end of that network to your own lands. Today, I want to tell you about the outside world and how we can bring that world here."
"Years ago, when I boarded the plane, I had only a few belongings in my suitcase and a lot of anxiety. In the country I went to, I saw advanced devices and learned firsthand how the global competition in asymmetric synthesis works. I observed how prestigious laboratories and high-budget projects are managed. For many, the success story ends there, being part of that established order. We call this 'brain drain'. However, when I packed that suitcase after my postdoctoral studies, I didn't just put my diploma in it. I also packed that global vision, the academic network, and my determination to build something from scratch in my country. Today, we will talk about how we opened that suitcase at my university and what we built with its contents."
WHY DID I RETURN?
"In the academic community, when you go abroad and manage to stay within a good system, the most frequently asked question is 'How long will you stay there?'. But when you return to your country, the question you encounter is much shorter: 'Why did you return?' Why did you leave behind those developed infrastructures where everything is established, that comfortable research environment, and come back? The answer to this question is actually very simple: Because instead of resting on my laurels, it was far more valuable for me to bring that advanced knowledge to the laboratories of my own country and to build that challenging infrastructure with my own students than countless international publications. Today, I will share with you the concrete scientific answers we provided from Burdur to the question 'Why did you return?'."
Our faculty students, who carefully listened to what they might encounter when they go abroad for education and how they would find solutions in those situations, asked our professor their curiosities and obtained information about studying abroad.
