By summerstudent Muhammad Kashif Raza>
Nothing worthwhile is accomplished easily, and this summer program at HZB served as a reminder of that. From visa issues as a non-European student to finding accommodation in bustling capital city Berlin, I faced numerous challenges. Literally, it took about four months getting visa and finding the dormitory. But real test started when I reached my apartment in Berlin and found no Pakistani food around…
Although there were a few Pakistani restaurants around, as a new-comer it was a great challenge to find these places. I had to cook the food by myself and I didn’t know how to cook even a single dish.
Initially, I was both thrilled and intimidated by the invitation to join the program. The project proposal was filled with unfamiliar terms like perovskites and HTL, ETL etc. Conversations with my supervisor required me to learn the language of science of perovskites and photovoltaics.
The real test began when I arrived at my workplace: a chemical lab, specifically the printing lab and joint lab, equipped with glove boxes, number of chambers with chemicals and spectrometers. As a physics student, working in chemical and synthetic labs was a completely new experience for me.
My project on perovskite solar cells
I worked on the project entitled “Fabrication and Characterizations of Perovskites Solar Cells using Novel TrAMPPT Method under the supervision of Prof, Dr. Eva Unger and Dr. Edgar Nandayapa at IRIS, Center of the Science of Materials Berlin (CSMB), Humboldt University Berlin.
My previous project on which I worked in my native institute was totally different from this project in ISSP. Despite initial fears, I enjoy this new field and hope to achieve meaningful results.
Discovering Berlin together
On weekends, I joined my ISSP mates to visit cultural sites like the Berliner Dom, East-West Gallery, Brandenburg gate, Parliament Building Berlin, Alexander Platz, Einstein Science Park in Potsdam, Natural Museum, German Historical Museum and the Berlin Futurium Museum which helped me relax and return to work more efficiently each week.Building Berlin, Alexander Platz, Einstein Science Park in Potsdam, Natural Museum, German Historical Museum and the Berlin Futurium Museum which helped me relax and return to work more efficiently each week.
The Author Muhammad Kashif Raza, Summerstudent ISSP 2024
From a small town of Pakistan to the vibrant capital city Berlin in Germany, my trip has truly been transcendental. I come from an area where the literacy rate is relatively low. Traveling to Berlin was a very first experience for me, as I had never flown or used trams before. This experience showed me that academia offers opportunities to gain new skills and explore the world beyond the lab. Being the only student from Pakistan nominated among eighteen esteemed scholars from across the world in International Summer School Program (ISSP) 2024 is an immense honor.
I’d like to thanks my family, all my teachers, especially my Supervisors during ISSP and Helmholtz Association who supported me throughout my journey. Long Live HZB!