Müge Özker Sertel

I started out as an electrical engineer, but then I discovered that the coolest electrical system is the one sitting inside our heads. So, I traded circuits for neurons and became a neuroscientist. I'm fascinated by one of the most extraordinary things humans can do: communicate through speech and language. My goal is to understand how the brain makes that happen.
I was born and raised in what is (objectively, if you ask me) the world's most beautiful city: Istanbul, a city spanning two continents, rising over seven hills, and run entirely by cats. I then trained as a neuroscientist in the U.S., somehow managing to live on three different coasts before ending up in the wonderfully gezellig city of Nijmegen, the Netherlands, where I've embraced cycling in every kind of weather, an alarming amount of dairy, terrasjes and borrels, and the fact that rain apparently isn't considered a reason to stay indoors.
When I'm not thinking about brains, I'm usually chasing after my little son and daughter, trying to keep my ever-expanding jungle of houseplants alive, making dinners that always involve far too much food, crocheting something ambitious that takes far longer than planned, or listening to anything with a Latin beat.