ISSI 2023 Guest Blogger Mia Stamatova
Each year we ask UK students who have taken part in the Dr Bessie Lawrence International Summer Science Institute (ISSI) to write a guest blog to reflect on the month they spent in Israel working as part of a research team alongside scientists at the Weizmann Institute. Outside of lab time students explore Israel while forming friendships that will last a lifetime. Mia Stamatova went to St Mary's College and will be going to the University of Oxford to study Physics.
Mia Stamatova's ISSI experience
You know something has been good, when words fail to describe how truly special it was.This blog post has, therefore, been one of the most difficult things I have had to write: even with the rich, abundant vocabulary range of the English language available to me, it seems almost impossible to fully describe the science, excursions, fun, laughter, amazing people and unforgettable memories of ISSI! But, I’ll try.
Like most others on the programme, undoubtedly I first came for the science. The chance to gain research experience at one of the most incredible research institutes in the world was definitely an opportunity not to be missed! A physicist at heart, I was initially thrown into the deep end when assigned a computer science project (I love coding…but the thought of theoretical computer science still makes me shudder!). However, when we arrived, I learned that there had been a slight hiccup with my mentor, and that I’d be heading back to my happy place - physics! Specifically, I worked on searching for variability in white dwarfs using ATLAS telescope data (aka exoplanet hunting!) under the wonderful mentorship of Dr. Na’ama Hallakoun and Mr. Yarin-Meir Shani. Using a variety of data analysis techniques, we produced a candidate list of potential white dwarfs with exoplanetary systems. Naturally, all this wasn’t without the collaboration of my awesome teammates, for whom I’m immensely grateful to have worked with and learnt from…and, of course, shared copious Bamba, halva and ice cream with! Ultimately, we narrowed our data list of 2500 stars down to 93 candidates, and analysed twenty of those in greater detail. The jury’s still out, as to whether we found any exoplanets - but watch this space (quite literally)!
When not working on our project, we had the pleasure of visiting neighbouring labs, who were working on myriad interesting topics, ranging from experimental optics and ULTRASAT to analysing the group behaviour of ants. In the evenings, our minds were further expanded through lectures - sometimes on research areas I didn’t even know existed; once by Nobel laureate, Ada Yonath (!); but always, they provoked at least another week’s worth of further discussion among us. It was truly a feast for the mind. But, like most others on the programme, I soon realised that the science was only a tiny part of the experience.
Our weekends were spent exploring virtually every corner of Israel, including Jerusalem, Caesarea, and Haifa. Seeing the breathtaking historical sites of Israel was eye-opening, and learning about this melting pot of cultures and religions first-hand was definitely a unique experience. On one particular day, I remember being introduced to the Bahai religion during our visit to the Bahai gardens in Haifa (it simply looked like we had been transported into an artwork by M.C. Escher - the symmetry and recursion of the gardens were insane!); soon after, we were having lunch hosted by a Druze community, and again I was given a glimpse into a new faith; and that same evening, my roommates explained to me about the different Jewish denominations - I can certainly say that, that night I went to bed with my mind blown by the anthropological diversity of Israel! The best thing about it all was how open-minded and tolerant everybody was: usually, religion seems somewhat of a taboo topic, but at ISSI everybody had a mutual level of respect that enabled such deep, philosophical conversations to be had, freely and zealously. It was a special atmosphere, for sure.
The desert excursion in the final week was, for me, the pinnacle of the month. I had never expected a seemingly barren desert to be so beautiful; I was in awe of the vastness and the silence. However, the Ein Gedi nature reserve soon proved how alive the desert really was - nature always finds a way…The pools and waterfalls were an oasis, and there isn’t a better feeling than jumping in fully clothed, only to dry off completely after a few minutes. Our final night was spent under the stars at the base of Masada, stargazing, trying to spot shooting stars; talking about anything and everything; and of course, hardly sleeping. We then proceeded to wake up at 3 AM, having drunk a gallon of coffee, (believe me, if you aren’t addicted to coffee already, by the end of ISSI, you sure will be!) to hike Masada in time for sunrise. And oh my, was it worth it!
During the final week, a small group of us went to Tel Aviv and headed to the beach on one of our free afternoons. Watching the horizon slowly turn orange, while swimming and laughing as a group of true friends in the Mediterranean was magical. In the space of a few weeks, from complete strangers we had become lifelong friends, able to share our deepest desires, thoughts, secrets and funniest memories with one another (and no - this wasn’t prompted only through games of Truth or Drink with a vile, sour bottle of lemon juice we had found in the clubhouse!).
There is so much more I want to write about, and probably things I will never be able to describe fully - you’ll just have to experience ISSI yourself to understand the magic of the month. I loved my time at the Weizmann Institute of Science, and will now be seeking out any opportunity to return to the beautiful, lush campus that I was lucky enough to call home for one spectacular month!
I wish to thank everyone who made my experience so special, and in particular, Dr. Dorit Granot, Dr. Aya Shkedy and Ms. Nirit Alon for organising it all and making us feel welcome from the very start. I’ll forever cherish the memories and friendships ISSI has given me.
Upon exiting the airport in Tel Aviv, I remember seeing an ad with the words: ‘Welcome to Israel, your life will never be the same!’. And it truly won’t be.
