Groundbreaking Discovery by Turkish Physicist Wins Prestigious Harvard Award

The “Gertrude and Maurice Goldhaber” prize from the Harvard University Physics Department, which is owned by the Turkish physicist Furkan Öztürk, is awarded annually to doctoral students who carry out some outstanding research studies in experimental fields. and theoretical.

“Groundbreaking” explanation from the Nobel Prize-winning biochemist

This study, first published by the young Turkish physicist last year, was described as “groundbreaking” by Nobel Prize-winning biochemist Jack Szostak and reported by the community scientific that this discovery shed light on many mysteries, from how life began on Earth to life in space.

In 1848, the French chemist Louis Pasteur put forward the concept of “homocracy”, that is that some molecules necessary for life are in “mirror image forms” of each other, just like the left hands and nice, but the origin of this feature was not understood. Öztürk created a new excitement in the scientific world with his discovery that revealed this mystery that science has been pursuing in the 175 years since this development.

The discovery, published in the most prestigious science journals and announced to the scientific world, was also recorded in the USA.

“I didn’t expect the award”

Turkish physicist Furkan Öztürk and scientists from Harvard University discussed the success story of the prestigious Harvard award, which is at the top of the list of the best universities in the world.

Stating that he received very important feedback from both Turkish and international scientific circles after the discovery was published and reported, Öztürk said that he will continue to explain the results of his studies on important platforms.

Claiming that he was a guest researcher at the Weizmann Institute and the University of Cambridge, Öztürk explained that two new articles of which he was the first author were published as a result of the experiments he carried out there.

In his assessment of the award, Öztürk said, “Since my research topic is interdisciplinary and very specific, the result was not what I expected.”

Expressing that he believed that scientists working in more traditional fields of physics had little interest in, or even interest in, his work, Öztürk said, “That’s why that I was very surprised when I learned that I received the award. But of course, this is a reward. excellent development, I am very proud of it, I am very happy for myself, my family and my country.” he said.

“Creative Industry and Legacy Forward”

Emphasizing that the award will be very beneficial for the later stages of his career, Öztürk continued as follows:

“However, receiving such an award is the result of a difficult process and might not have happened at all. The important thing is to enjoy this research and learning. I really enjoyed this process during my work. In particular, an idea that I put forward theoretically also worked experimentally, a creative way to solve an important problem.” “It gives me great pleasure to bring solutions to life. It’s hard to describe the sense of satisfaction that comes from solving a deep problem.”

Both the joy of discovery and the joy of being appreciated

Insisting that it is a matter of pride to receive prestigious awards in the international community, but this should not be a goal, Öztürk stressed that important studies are not recommended immediately in the t -scientific world, and in such cases, the work should be continued for the sake of the discovery.

Expressing that he feels very lucky in this regard, Öztürk said, “I am happy to be able to experience both the joy of discovery and the joy of being appreciated with the award. I hope that the award will encourage young people who follow and support me. in Turkey and they want to deal with science and art.”

“I failed many times but I never lost my motivation”

Öztürk said that his doctoral thesis advisor Dimitar Sasselov always supported him in creating new ideas.

Insisting that his mentor, with whom he is a good friend, gave his students great freedom and supported them financially and morally through this difficult process, Öztürk explained the difficult processes leading to success with the following words:

“To be honest, I had a very difficult time in this process. I failed many times until I reached the final stage and showed that the ideas I came up with experimentally worked. there were times when I took the wrong path, and sometimes the ideas I put forward after long studies and were not very confident in receiving experimental support However, at no point in this process I lost my motivation really want to create a new job, it is not possible to predict what will work and how it will work Dimitar for always supporting me on the difficult path and this long.”

Furkan Öztürk also said that he kept in mind what Mustafa Kemal Atatürk said “Those who act without ever resting, never getting tired” during his work.

“He will test the chemical changes expected for life in the laboratory”

On the question of what other doors his discovery will open in the world of science in the future, Öztürk said that how life began on Earth is a very interesting and deep question.

Insisting that his biggest dream is to understand how life appeared and what mechanisms were involved in this process, Öztürk explained, in order to achieve this, to the chemical changes must be tested in the laboratory under early world conditions.

Emphasizing that his discovery is an important step in understanding how life began, Öztürk said:

“Of course, this discovery also gives us various clues about life beyond Earth. If we understand how life began on Earth, this understanding can help us when we search for life on other Earth-like planets and tell us where to look. the mechanisms that give rise to life.” “My biggest dream is to study the physics of living systems.

Öztürk, who will receive his award at the ceremony to be held at Harvard University’s Department of Physics on May 6, said, “After I finish my doctorate in May, I want to be in charge of my own laboratory and continue my research into the physics of living systems and the origin of life.”

“He is one of the most creative students I have seen in my 25-year career as a professor”

Doctoral thesis advisor Öztürk is a Professor of Astronomy at Harvard University. Dr. Dimitar Sasselov said of his student, “Furkan is one of the most creative students I have seen in my 25-year career as a professor at Harvard. His creative intelligence and determination played a big role in his success this study.”

Pointing out that the importance of the research is great, Sasselov said:

“Öztürk’s studies, for the first time in history, provide a complete recipe of how the basic building blocks that make up life are created. These basic building blocks are, in fact, amino -acids and nucleotides. The result of these discoveries and the recipe revealed by this table, homochiral amino acids and nucleotides, was shown how functional polymers such as proteins and RNA can form. Of course, this is not a limited recipe to Earth. We can imagine that this could happen on any planet with conditions similar to early Earth.”

“It is given to very few students”

Director of Postgraduate Studies, Department of Physics, Harvard University. Jacob Barandes also explained that the Goldhaber Award was given to a very small number of students who passed the aptitude tests in Harvard’s physics doctoral program and who were very successful in research.

Noting that the award winners are decided by votes of faculty members after extensive discussions and negotiations, Barandes shared the information: “It is a very special honor to have win the Goldhaber Award and the award winners receive their awards at a special ceremony held each year. “

Turkish physicist Öztürk will defend his doctoral thesis, which will include his studies on homochirality, at the end of this month and receive his doctorate from Harvard University’s Department of Physics.