Shoshana Ginsburg

Postdoc at Technion
Towards the end of my PhD work, I decided I wanted to continue doing research in an academic lab setting. I have always loved visiting Israel, and I wanted the opportunity to come for an extended time to truly experience the country and the culture. So I decided that my best option for doing a postdoc would be in an Israeli institution. I discussed this with my PhD advisor, who agreed it was a great idea and connected me with various people to make it happen.
Once I arrived in Israel I jumped right into work and came to the Technion to meet everyone in the lab and see the equipment so I could start to plan my experiments. The variety of equipment at the Technion helped make my research run smoothly. I started my experiments by creating oleogel samples and analyzing them to determine how to move forward. I also learned about other projects going on in the lab, and helped students with their research. I enjoy mentoring other scientists and working with them to try to figure out the significance of the data they have collected. Learning how the lab operates was a challenge. I was unaware of the equipment scheduling system at first. The equipment vital for most peoples’ research is often in high demand, but I managed to plan my experiments around its availability. When I tried to prepare my preliminary data samples by measuring their rheological behavior, I had some trouble, but I brainstormed with fellow researchers to come up with a successful method. Working with my colleagues at the Technion has been a pleasure. Everyone was so helpful as I navigated this new environment. Even outside of the lab, my lab mates and my PI have helped steer me in the right direction, helping me to find things for my apartment and showing me the best places to get food. Everyone I have encountered at the Technion has been a pleasure to work with, and eager to welcome me.
Integrating into the local community has been a little difficult because of the language barrier, but I am working on my Hebrew and communicating with people as best I can. Israelis are very nice and have helped me immensely. It has felt like one big community. Having the opportunity to move to Israel and integrate myself with a very different environment than I am used to has taught me that being out of my comfort zone is not always bad, and sometimes great things can come from it. Although I have only been in Israel for a short time, I have felt welcomed from the beginning and already I feel at home here.