Zehra Sayers (born 25 September 1953) is a

Turkish Turkish may refer to: * Something related to Turkey ** Turkish language *** Turkish alphabet ** Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group and nation *** Turkish citizen, a citizen of Turkey *** Turkish communities in the former Ottoman Empire * The w ...

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

structural biologist Structural biology deals with structural analysis of living material (formed, composed of, and/or maintained and refined by living cells) at every level of organization. Early structural biologists throughout the 19th and early 20th centuries we ...

. She has previously served as Interim President of the

Sabancı University Sabancı University () is a private research university that adopts a liberal arts education approach, established in 1994 and located on a 1.26 million squaremeter campus which is about 40 km from Istanbul's city center. Its first students ...

(February–November 2018) and co-chaired the scientific advisory committee for

Synchrotron-Light for Experimental Science and Applications in the Middle East The Synchrotron-Light for Experimental Science and Applications in the Middle East (SESAME) is an independent laboratory located in Allan in the Balqa governorate of Jordan, created under the auspices of UNESCO on 30 May 2002. Aimed at promot ...

(SESAME). She was part of a five-scientist group that received the AAAS Award for Science Diplomacy in 2019. She holds Turkish and British citizenship.

Early life and education

Sayers was born in

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

. She studied physics at

Boğaziçi University Boğaziçi University (Turkish language, Turkish: ''Boğaziçi Üniversitesi''), also known as Bosphorus University, is a Public university, public research university in Istanbul, Turkey, historically tied to a former American educational insti ...

Istanbul Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...

. For her postgraduate studies Sayers moved to the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

. In 1978 she earned a doctorate for research done at

King's College London GKT School of Medical Education King's College London GKT School of Medical Education (often referred to simply as GKT) is the medical school of King's College London. The school has campuses at three institutions, Guy's Hospital (Southwark), King's College Hospital ( Denm ...

, the degree was awarded by the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a collegiate university, federal Public university, public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The ...

. Sayers worked as a

postdoctoral research A postdoctoral fellow, postdoctoral researcher, or simply postdoc, is a person professionally conducting research after the completion of their doctoral studies (typically a PhD). Postdocs most commonly, but not always, have a temporary acade ...

er in the

Open University The Open University (OU) is a Public university, public research university and the largest university in the United Kingdom by List of universities in the United Kingdom by enrolment, number of students. The majority of the OU's undergraduate ...

and the Wallenberg Laboratory,

Uppsala University Uppsala University (UU) () is a public university, public research university in Uppsala, Sweden. Founded in 1477, it is the List of universities in Sweden, oldest university in Sweden and the Nordic countries still in operation. Initially fou ...

. In 1986 she was the first woman staff scientist to be appointed to the

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...

outstation of the

European Molecular Biology Laboratory The European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) is an intergovernmental organization dedicated to molecular biology research and is supported by 29 member states, two prospect member states, and one associate member state. EMBL was created in ...

, where she used

synchrotron radiation Synchrotron radiation (also known as magnetobremsstrahlung) is the electromagnetic radiation emitted when relativistic charged particles are subject to an acceleration perpendicular to their velocity (). It is produced artificially in some types ...

to study

cytoskeletal protein The cytoskeleton is a complex, dynamic network of interlinking protein filaments present in the cytoplasm of all Cell (biology), cells, including those of bacteria and archaea. In eukaryotes, it extends from the cell nucleus to the cell membrane ...

s and

chromatin Chromatin is a complex of DNA and protein found in eukaryote, eukaryotic cells. The primary function is to package long DNA molecules into more compact, denser structures. This prevents the strands from becoming tangled and also plays important r ...

. Whilst working in Germany she obtained her

habilitation Habilitation is the highest university degree, or the procedure by which it is achieved, in Germany, France, Italy, Poland and some other European and non-English-speaking countries. The candidate fulfills a university's set criteria of excelle ...

in 1996 with a thesis from the

University of Hamburg The University of Hamburg (, also referred to as UHH) is a public university, public research university in Hamburg, Germany. It was founded on 28 March 1919 by combining the previous General Lecture System ('':de:Allgemeines Vorlesungswesen, ...

Research and career

In 1998 Sayers returned to Turkey, joining the founding faculty of

as the partner of Ahmet Evin. Established by the Turkish industrial and financial conglomerate Hacı Ömer Sabancı Holding A.Ş., Sabancı University was the first and only university where Sayers served as faculty member: she was Director of the Foundation Development Program in 2010 and Interim President from February to November 2018. Her research has considered recombinant protein production, and has considered the structure of

fibres and filamentous proteins. She looks to identify the relationship between structure and function in

macromolecule A macromolecule is a "molecule of high relative molecular mass, the structure of which essentially comprises the multiple repetition of units derived, actually or conceptually, from molecules of low relative molecular mass." Polymers are physi ...

s. At Sabancı University, Sayers was involved in undergraduate teaching, developing an interdisciplinary,

liberal arts Liberal arts education () is a traditional academic course in Western higher education. ''Liberal arts'' takes the term ''skill, art'' in the sense of a learned skill rather than specifically the fine arts. ''Liberal arts education'' can refe ...

, curriculum for science teaching. She became professor emerita in 2022. Sayers became involved with the

(SESAME) project since 2000. The light source was inaugurated in 2017 by

Abdullah II of Jordan Abdullah II (Abdullah bin Hussein; born 30 January 1962) is King of Jordan, having ascended the throne on 7 February 1999. He is a member of the Hashemites, who have been the reigning royal family of Jordan since 1921, and is traditionally reg ...

. She believes that

synchrotron light source A synchrotron light source is a source of electromagnetic radiation (EM) usually produced by a storage ring, for scientific and technical purposes. First observed in synchrotrons, synchrotron light is now produced by storage rings and othe ...

s are an effective way to integrate scientists from different disciplines and nationalities. During her time as Co-chair of the Scientific Advisory Committee, more than 100 young scientists were trained to use the

. She held her position as Co-chair of the Scientific Advisory Committee of SESAME from 2002 to 2018. Sayers has worked as an advisor for the Turkish Accelerator Center Project, supported by the Turkish state. Together with

Eliezer Rabinovici Eliezer Rabinovici (; born 1946) is an Israeli theoretical physicist. He is emeritus Professor of Physics (Leon H. and Ada G. Miller Chair) at The Racah Institute of Physics, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, working on theoretical high-energy ph ...

, she spoke about the international collaborations that are part of SESAME at TEDx

CERN The European Organization for Nuclear Research, known as CERN (; ; ), is an intergovernmental organization that operates the largest particle physics laboratory in the world. Established in 1954, it is based in Meyrin, western suburb of Gene ...

in 2013.

Selected publications

* * *

Awards and honours

She was awarded the EuroScience Rammal Award in 2017, which recognised her contributions to building the scientific programme of SESAME. In 2019 Sayers became the first person of joint Turkish and British citizenship to win the AAAS Award for Science Diplomacy, as part of a group of five scientists receiving the award for their contributions to SESAME. Later that year she was named as one of the

BBC 100 Women ''100 Women'' is a BBC multi-format series established in 2013. The annual series examines the role of women in the 21st century and has included events in London and Mexico. Announcement of the list is the start of an international "BBC's wome ...

in 2019.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sayers, Zehra Living people 1953 births Boğaziçi University alumni Alumni of the University of London Academic staff of Istanbul University University of Hamburg alumni Academic staff of Sabancı University 21st-century Turkish women scientists 21st-century Turkish scientists Turkish women academics Academics of the Open University Structural biologists Turkish biologists Women biologists Turkish emigrants to the United Kingdom