Education
Robert College, Istanbul, TR September 2016 – June 2021
Cumulative GPA: 92.23%
Julliard School of Music, NY, US June 2017 – July 2017
Attended a music-heavy summer arts program with community outreach opportunities.
High School Summer College – Stanford University, CA, US June 2019 – August 2019
Took psychology, astrophysics, management science, and sociology courses. Participated in external research. Received a total of 14 course credits.
The University of Oxford, Oxfordshire, UK October 2021 – June 2025
Reading for a MPhys Master of Physics course at St. Hilda’s College, Oxford. Expected Master’s field is Theoretical Astrophysics.
Work Experience and Internships
Summer Research Internship – Koc University, Istanbul, TR June 2018 – July 2018
Did research on augmented reality and machine learning. Developed a prototype parking infrastructure for the university, and worked on an AR-powered university app.
Jury at the Intl. Young Talents Music Competition (UGY) February 2019 – April 2019
Selected as a jury member for the international non-profit music competition UGY Istanbul, with more than 5000 competitors yearly (related media publications mentioning me).
Science Internship Program - UC Santa Cruz, CA, US June 2020 – August 2020
Selected as one of 16 international students. Analyzed the Hydrogen absorption spectra and determined many attributes of distant Milky Way Halo stars, alongside Prof. Dr. Puragra GuhaThakurta and Kevin McKinnon.
OmniTutoring UK Ltd. March 2021 – Present
Working part-time as a college counselor, a writing coach, and a personal tutor for Math, Physics, and English.
Projects
RC in Space Project
Selected as a co-leader for “RC in Space,” a high-altitude research balloon project. Developed a novel helium release system that eliminated the need of popping the balloon.
Independent Research Project
Completed research on my high-efficiency wireless charger project, with a final efficiency of 97.7% (compared to the conventional 87.7%). Built a prototype and did extensive testing.
Independent Research Project
Researched the relationship between the cellulose concentration of various plant leaves and the climate which they live in. Discovered a linear relationship between the two.
Stanford HSSC External Research Project
Wrote two research reports, on the glamourization of smoking in popular media (access here), and on the false harm reduction promises of electronic cigarettes (access here).
Robert College External Research Project
Did extensive research on the Sidamara Sarcophagus, and brought to light new information on the artistic styles of the marble reliefs, and a more accurate place of origin (access here).
Presenter at the 237th American Astronomical Society Conference
Our results from the UCSC SIP research were presented at the online conference, with thousands of respected astrophysics from around the world attending.
Awards
Participated in the EndeavorTurkey Elevator Pitch event and won a one-week internship at the TEB Entrepreneurship House, as well as the chance to meet the CEO of TEB Bank - 2018
Participated in the BEST Engineering Competition as a team of four, and finished fourth out of nearly 150 teams across Turkey - 2019
Participated in the Turkish round of the International Mathematical Modeling Challenge as a team of four. Finished second place in Turkey, received international recognition - 2019
Participated in the Tests in Engineering Aptitude, Mathematics and Science Competition as a team of ten. Finished third place in Turkey, received international recognition - 2019
Participated in the 15km Istanbul Vodafone Avrasya Marathon and won a medal with a time of 1:54, representing the “Adim Adim” community program - 2019
Community Involvement
Koray Varol Academy (Paid Job) August 2016 – June 2017
Throughout my preparatory year in high school, I interned part-time in a small private school, where I tutored 8th graders for their upcoming high school entrance exams. Working with Koray Varol, a heavily community-involved education activist, I spent whatever free time I had, editing textbooks and designing out-of-the-box questions. Eventually, I donated my earnings to a charity organisation, BEDES, that operated close to where I lived. They provided clothes and class materials to underprivileged children in their area. I also found out that one of the 8th graders that I had tutored had gotten into one of the top high schools in Turkey.
Arts Community Project, Bursa, Turkey June 2018 – June 2018
In the summer of ninth grade, I went to Bursa, Turkey with a small group from my school, to create an arts education program in a small community center there. For a week, we organised workshops in music, painting, drama, singing, and dance; allowing the participating kids to pick whatever they wanted to learn more about. By the end of the week, we had done enough that the kids performed a small show to their parents. We later found out that some of those kids had begun using the limited facilities they had in their own schools to continue the journey that they had begun with us.
Digital COVID-Prevention Project April 2020 – July 2020
In the summer of eleventh grade, I created “The accessible Protection Project,” aimed at creating widely available solutions to COVID-19 related issues such as adequate protection, a safe supply of food, no-contact daily interactions, etc. The ideas submitted by the community were collected and used to research and design the solutions to these problems. The campaign reached many people around the world. In just a month, the campaign reached 360+ people. The full results of this campaign can be found here.
Note: At the time of writing this document, I have 147 hours of community involvement time registered with my high school.
Extracurricular Activities
Spent 12 years with piano, working with leading Turkish musicians such as Timur Selcuk and Benal Tanrisever. Finished all 8 levels of the London College of Music piano curriculum, and composed multiple pieces of my own.
Spent 8 years with photography. A portfolio containing my best shots, portraying all the different photography techniques I have experimented with, can be found here.
With a team of four at the Stanford HSSC, did market research and prepared an investment scenario for the Fortune #8 company, McKesson (they ended up implementing the scenario).
Became the vice president of the school orchestra. Contacted prevalent Turkish musicians and arranged composing and jazz workshops for my peers.
Ranked fourth in all of Turkey at the national junior billiards championship of 2013.
Software Skills
Autodesk Fusion 360 design program (advanced level)
Adobe Lightroom / Photoshop (intermediate level)
AutoCAD design program (intermediate level)
Python coding language (intermediate level)
Languages
Turkish (native)
English (native level)
French (advanced / B1 level)
Portuguese (beginner / pre-A1 level)