Let me introduce you to the first #humansofoiss of 2023 - Bianka Mecaj from Albania. She is a Postdoctoral Associate in the Physics Department.
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Bianka spent her first 21 years in Albania until she finished her sophomore year in undergrad, and then she chose to finish her bachelor in Slovenia. After that, she continued to study and conduct research in physics in several universities around Europe. She received her Master’s Degree from ETH Zurich in Switzerland and Ecole Polytechnique in Paris and her PhD degree at Johannes Gutenberg University of Mainz in Germany. Since Bianka had grown familiar with different research environments in Europe, she decided to come to the US and Yale for a brand new experience. The fast pace of keeping moving forward she senses in a place such as Yale keeps her excited as a scientist. Her journey to Yale is also full of coincidences and surprises and she feels very lucky to be where she is now.
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For research, Bianka works on theoretical particle physics, which studies the tiniest constituents of matter in the universe and the interactions among them. What she does on a daily basis is to try to come up with new ideas on what to measure in particle experiments to increase chances to make new discoveries, based on her theoretical calculations. The fundamental goal, of course, is to understand how the universe began and how elementary particles come together to form bigger ones such as protons and neutrons - this is such impressive work!
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Outside of research, Bianka is a member of the Yale Postdoctoral Association Committee for Professional Development. There, she is involved in organizing career events for Yale postdocs.
Recently, they are planning for a panel discussion in the spring, around the topic of vision and leadership. To Bianka, personal growth and reaching full potential are tightly related to doing research and physics. In a dynamic world, if you could combine these two, it is possible to make a huge impact in the world.
