Budding Specialist in Binary Star Systems Twins IFE with NSF's REU program: A template for young scientists ?

It is no secret that science majors enroll in IFE to benefit from full-time lab bench internships in Asturias, Marseille, Paris or Strasbourg. Less well-known is the value of combining an IFE science research sojourn with the NSF's Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) program, either as a summer of readiness for further research abroad, or by using their IFE trampoline to gain access to the REU program. IFE alum Ilia Kiato (S22, University of Illinois) did both, and here she talks about her undergraduate research experience, as well as the importance of culture for science, now as a doctoral student in astronomy at Northwestern University.

“Alongside my passion for astrophysics, I really enjoy learning new languages. As my fourth language [ed: after Greek, Albanian, English], I began studying Spanish in high school, but I wanted to expand my skills beyond the classroom. During my junior year of college, I discovered the ideal study abroad opportunity [ed: IFE's Asturias Field Study and Internship Program] that combined my interests in both astrophysics and Spanish.

“Working under the supervision of Professor Joaquin Gonzalez-Nuevo Gonzalez, I used a magnifying effect from extremely distant galaxies to describe their distribution within their dark matter halos. At the end of the program, I wrote a 20-page thesis in Spanish and defended it in front of an audience of Spanish faculty and the general public.”

As Ilia explains, this was her first research experience in the sub-field of cosmology, having prior to enrollment in IFE participated in astrophysics research thanks to the NSF's REU program, during which her “passion for binary star systems and black holes ignited” (the focus of her doctoral research).

Back on campus in Champaign, she applied for and won another REU fellowship, this time to do observational astronomy at UC Santa Barbara, a chance “to sense the urgency, hardships, and fascination that come with the field”. Ilia credits her IFE semester with having helped land this third research opportunity: “having an experience as unique as IFE is held in high regard by the professors that are looking at applications... All three of my research experiences were very distinct... I wanted to go to graduate school having explored a breadth of astrophysics subfields.”

Heading to Spain, Ilia was already no stranger to intercultural living, having immigrated during high school from her native Greece to the US in order to pursue her passion for studying the physical universe. Switching cultures was not always easy, “including the transition from a family-oriented culture to one where independence is more valued, or the linguistic barrier that meant spending twice as long on homework every night”.

Surmounting those early challenges, Ilia found that college was the “perfect opportunity” to explore her interests in languages and science. “IFE specifically was the vehicle to do that with astrophysics and Spanish... I was also curious about the broader intersection of the two. How different is doing research at a Spanish-speaking institution? Does the Spanish culture affect people’s work style, the way they converse about science, and how they reach a scientific conclusion? ... [My] IFE experience taught me the value of navigating different cultural backgrounds and, in turn, different ways of thinking about science.”

Ilia's conclusions from this exposure are as eloquent as they are vital:

“Scientific communication might be standardized in English, but the mental process of inquiry, problem-solving, and creativity is heavily influenced by the scientist’s native language and cultural context. Also, different educational systems, cultural norms, and ways of being brought up can shape what research goal a scientist will prioritize, how bold of a conclusion they will make, or how collaborative they will be. For example, even though my scientific career and education have been developed in the U.S., I quickly realized how much my scientific intuition and communication style were culturally shaped. The rigorous, theory-focused education I received in Greece as a child, the family-oriented and community-reliant environment I grew up in, and the need to think about astronomy in different languages and at different educational levels so I could explain it to my family and friends have all subtly but strongly influenced the questions I ask, the ways I seek answers, and how I communicate my science. Therefore, objective science benefits a lot from subjective human perspectives, and that’s why it’s important to diversify the scientific community.”

Proof that language and culture is anything but a distraction from science? In May, Ilia was awarded a Nicholson Fellowship; these are full-tuition-plus-stipend fellowships honoring “outstanding Northwestern University PhD students in the sciences, engineering, and management”. ¡Enhorabuena, Ilia!