Esra Bulbul

"Persistence is the Key to Success!"

Life
My name is Esra Bulbul. I am a Turkish-American astrophysicist. I received my bachelor’s degree from the physics department at the Middle East Technical University in Ankara, Turkey. In 2010, I was awarded a Ph.D. degree in astrophysics at the NASA Marshall Space Flight Center. After working as a postdoctoral fellow at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for astrophysics and MIT, I moved to the Max Planck Institute for Extra-terrestrial Physics as a staff scientist in 2019. We can say that my love for physics and dark starry skies to lead me to a career in astrophysics.

Science
My role in the eROSITA collaboration is as the chair of the clusters and cosmology working group. I am mostly interested in multi-wavelength observations of clusters of galaxies. I utilize these observations in understanding the astrophysical phenomena, cosmology, and mapping the large-scale structure of the Universe.

I am involved in the Athena X-ray observatory as a co-chair of one of the topical panels. Athena will be the next large observatory in X-ray astronomy. It will be carrying a wide-field imager and high-spectral resolution calorimeter. I cannot wait to work on its data.

Hobbys
I love dancing! I am especially interested in latin dances

Conclusion
If I could restart my academic career, I would not change anything. Persistence is the key to success. I learned through the years of experience that it is important to keep a positive attitude when you face challenges. Eventually, all the hard work pays off for the ones who are patient.