Electrochemist


We are happy to present to you our next „rOLe model“:

Aditi Chring, Electrochemist and wissenschaftliche Mitarbeiterin (engl.: research assistant) in the research group Physical Chemistry of Prof. Wittstock at the Institute of Chemistry, University of Oldenburg.

Also published on Instagram (@equality_uol) on June 7, 2022.

Electrochemist Aditi Chiring, wissenschaftliche Mitarbeiterin 
Aditi Chiring is sitting on a a tree trunk in front of a river in front of a mountain. She is wearing a white jacket and a blue shirt and ist smiling at the camera. She is wearing glasses and has ear-long dark hair and bangs.
Aditi Chring ist an Electrochemist and works as Research Assistant in the group of Prof. Wittstock at the Institute of Chemistry, University of Oldenburg. She describes her work as follows: „My field of research is electrochemistry. I work with a setup called STREAM, which is an in-situ holder for Transmission Electron Microscopy. With this, I want to study electrode-electrolyte interface of electrochemically active materials.“
On this slide are two questions. The first question is:
 What made you want to go to science? 
Answer: „Well, I think it is something I was always interested in. I grew up in a place where electricity power cuts were frequent. Though we got enough sunlight throughout the year, tapping into solar energy was unheard of in my neighbourhood. So, I realized at a very early age that energy is a currency of the world and that was something I really wanted to work with. To this extent, I have worked with electrochemistry and energy storage systems like battery materials.“
Second question: 
What is the achievement you are most proud of?

Answer: “Trying to refine in-situ XRD data with Rietveld refinements. It was a lot of contacting experienced scientists and various trial-and-errors but could finally use this technique to further understand the structure-property relationship of cathode materials and publish a paper.”
On this slide is a sketch of optical images of ‘Prussian blue’ deposited electrochemically. Aditi Chiring describes it like this: “Optical images of ‘Prussian blue’ deposited electrochemically. This bright colour is obtained from just ~200 nm of film thickness. Primarily used as dyes, these materials are now also used in electrochromic windows, batteries and for removal of cesium from water. It helps that this is also my favourite colour!”
Question on this slide: 
Did you meet any barriers during your career as a scientific researcher? 

Answer: “Well, yes, maybe not too prominently. For example, as a woman, it’s expected of me to take care of organization in the lab. It is good here as everyone, regardless of gender, is expected to be organized.
And I would say sometimes when people talk to me, they don’t just talk to me, or if I did something wrong, they put my entire nation behind me saying that Indians do it this way. I did it wrong, but it’s just on me. Also, the same way it would be “Oh, Indians do this thing well, you should do it too”.
But I wouldn’t necessarily call them barriers. More often than not, it is a matter of knowing where to draw a line and say, “Hey, I’m not comfortable with this, could we change the line of talk or could you just talk to me differently”. The change in people’s behavior is almost instant. Sometimes, I think, we don’t realize when we are being insensitive to others.”
Question in this slide: 
What is your advice for those who are interested in working in science?
Answer: “If you want to pursue a scientific career, you should have perseverance and patience. Things will not always go as planned. It’s necessary to have your task, objective, approach, and result in your mind, but of course, be flexible along the way, adapt according to how your results are at that moment. Research is also a lot about getting one thing right out of many. In a hundred experiments, 99 can go wrong, but if you get that one time right, repeat and reproduce it! Also, you have to love what your work on. This could, of course, be said about any profession.”
On this slide are in the upper half Aditi Chirings University education/Academic positions: 
India: 2016 – 2019: Bachelor of Science in Chemistry, Ramjas College, University of Delhi

India: 2016 – 2019: Master of Science in Chemical Science,  Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced  Scientific Research, Bangalore

Germany: 2019 – present: Research Assistant in the group Physical Chemistry- AG Wittstock, Carl von Ossietzky University of Oldenburg

On the lower half is another question:

What is your agenda for the coming months? 

Answer: “The system I’m working on has started problems again, so my first agenda is to get it in order and then try to wind up my work here because it’s almost the end of my contract. And then plan about my future, about what else do I want to research on, because despite all the problems, I still want to be in research.”
On this slide are in the upper half Aditi Chirings University education/Academic positions: 
India: 2016 – 2019: Bachelor of Science in Chemistry, Ramjas College, University of Delhi

India: 2016 – 2019: Master of Science in Chemical Science,  Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced  Scientific Research, Bangalore

Germany: 2019 – present: Research Assistant in the group Physical Chemistry- AG Wittstock, Carl von Ossietzky University of Oldenburg

On the lower half is another question:

What is your agenda for the coming months? 

Answer: “The system I’m working on has started problems again, so my first agenda is to get it in order and then try to wind up my work here because it’s almost the end of my contract. And then plan about my future, about what else do I want to research on, because despite all the problems, I still want to be in research.”