STEP Paves the Way for Cooperation Among Scientists from Different Countries
Professor of Molecular Biology and Genetics from Turkey contended that Science and Technology Exchange Program (STEP) in Islamic Countries is an important occasion which paves the way for cooperation among scientists from different countries.
MSTF Media reports:
Asli Tolun, professor of Molecular Biology and Genetics at Boğaziçi University, in an interview highlighted the importance of holding occasions like STEP and underscored the elimination of gender-based educational materials.
Referring to STEP, she said “I think it is very interesting and important that we are greeting people from different countries. I have met pretty nice people and many good scientists and I hope that in the future we foster some cooperation.”
She further noted that “we want scientists to excel in their careers and in order to do so, we can take some measures to abolish the hindrances in the future. We can try working in our own countries and attempt to raise awareness.”
Tolun pointed to her country as an example, stating that “in Turkey, the Academy of Sciences has gone through the textbooks and has found out that gender difference is embedded in educational materials and the children are raised with it; boys and girls are different from each other, so are wives and husbands as well as mothers and fathers. The education system could be made more aware of gender differences.”
Asli Tolun has been working in the Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics at Boğaziçi University for 34 years. She earned her BSc degree in physics at Robert College (currently Boğaziçi University) and her MSc degree in biophysics at Pennsylvania State University, USA. Later, she obtained her PhD in Scientific Microbiology at Uppsala University, Sweden.
Science and Technology Exchange Program (STEP) in Islamic countries was set up to create an atmosphere of cooperation and interaction among researchers and scientists of the Islamic world. The 6th round of STEP was held simultaneously with 2019 Mustafa Prize Award Ceremony in Iran.
