«I CHOSE SCIENCE, NOT BUSINESS»

Aysel RAMAZANOVA is one of young scientists representing Azerbaijan in European science. She works at the University of Duisburg-Essen (Germany). After graduating from the Department of Mechanics and Mathematics of the Baku State University (BSU), she received her PhD. But she could not be satisfied with this achievement. After defending her thesis in 2018, Aysel sent several research projects to five German universities and received invitations from three of them. Opting for the University of Duisburg-Essen, Aysel has successfully completed a one-year grant programme in just six months and received a permanent job offer from the university. Currently, Aysel teaches at the same university and continues her research activities there. She has been a speaker at many international scientific conferences and is an author of articles published in prestigious journals. She plans to defend her doctoral thesis in 2024. And she intends to devote herself entirely to science. There is a reason why...

"Why did you choose science? You could be more successful in business, for example."

"That’s true. That's what most PhDs do in Germany. After a while, they go to work in private companies, which is a more profitable option. If I do the same, I can earn four times as much as I do now. There is a great demand for programmers in Europe, and I get a lot of job offers. But I want to do science. However, there are also grant-based research programmes. For example together with a group of Azerbaijani professors I have won one of these programs, which was quite a promising one in terms of profitability. But this is not why I prefer science to business... (stops for a moment, eyes filled with tears. Then she pulls herself up and continues).

“...I chose this path because of my father, Professor Telman Ramazanov. I wanted to follow in his footsteps. He was my ideal. There were many famous scientists researching mechanics. Dad gave lectures in Russia, Iran, Turkey, and joined numerous conferences in Germany. Every time he returned from Germany, he praised the country and said that he would take me to study there too. But he died suddenly. Fortunately, my mother fulfilled my father's dream and sent me to Germany. After that I decided to learn German and continue my scientific research there. Five days a week I attended intensive German language courses, from 6pm to 11pm. I studied really hard. I thought I could add my name to the list of world-class scientists, and make Azerbaijan famous this way. I still think so. Yes, I represent a German university at conferences, but when they hear my name they know that I am from Azerbaijan and show great interest.”

"And what is their reaction? How well do they know about Azerbaijan in Germany?"

"In fact, Azerbaijan is better known here as an oil-rich country. When I first met my professor, I noticed that they had some information about Azerbaijan. Scientists of the Soviet period are especially famous there. They believe our good knowledge of the Soviet scientific literature is our advantage. For example, they appreciate that I can speak Russian at conferences. Most famous scientists engaged in the study of optimisation process come from Russia and France, Russian mathematicians being the most famous among them. Since this field of research is complex, Germans are often surprised to realise that we know both Russian and European literature, and on top of that I come from a Muslim country. Moreover, mathematics is not like medicine. There are not many women in this field. Even in Germany, it is sometimes surprising that a woman from Azerbaijan defends a PhD in mathematics in Europe."

"Is there a big difference between Germany and Azerbaijan in terms of scientific approach?"

"It's all about the Germans buying brains. In fact, 95% of the university staff are foreigners. Yes, there is a German professor leading the research. But the whole staff is made up of foreigners.

“As for us, we need to develop our own scientific potential in the first place, and then think about getting brains from abroad. How can we do that? For example, I graduated from the Department of Mechanics at BSU. There were another 90 students taking the same bachelor's programme. But in Germany, my lectures were attended by a maximum of 12 students. Question: what is better—to teach to 90 students or to raise 12? This is what Germans do. They filter them out, leaving say only five, but of the highest quality. We, on the contrary, have a stereotype that everyone must have a university degree.”

"Do you keep in touch with colleagues from Azerbaijan? Are young scientists happy with conditions created here?"

"There are good conditions for the development of young scientists in Azerbaijan too. I know and keep in touch with several guys working in the same field. They also participate in international conferences and publish their research papers in prestigious publications. For example, Samin Malik from ADA University is working on optimisation as well. I know that he has many scientific achievements. ADA University also provides him an opportunity to travel abroad. The level of development in Azerbaijan is normal. The difference is that working in Europe contributes to your development more. It is more convenient to go abroad from Germany as a scientist. During the year, the university sends you to conferences held in at least three different countries."

"Do you contact your compatriots in Germany?"

"We keep in touch indeed. Sometimes I prepare our students to defense. During the 44-day war, I was involved in various activities to support our state and spread the truth about the situation in Azerbaijan in Germany. Perhaps that was the hardest period of our life abroad as we had to grapple with the difficulties more than our fellow compatriots in Azerbaijan. You were close to the scene of war, you had access to information, you could help. We lacked all this however. Since there was no other way I could help my homeland, the only thing I could do was to leave comments on German social media. By the way, some of them have even blocked me. Perhaps not without assistance from Armenians."

"Do you think of returning to Azerbaijan?"

"Application of mathematical findings in the field of control optimisation and programming is a rather new, very complex and less popular field of science in Azerbaijan. There are few specialists, not only in Azerbaijan, but also in Germany, who know the theory and can also apply their knowledge through programming. That is why the university doesn't let me go. I continue to work on myself. For now I intend to stay in Germany. Here I have more opportunities to attend international conferences and to participate in research, to become a professor. But I may return to Azerbaijan some day in the future."