Halil Bağış – Stellar Lab
Halil Bağış, who discovered his interest in space and astronomy after seeing the photograph of Saturn in the 4th grade of primary school, aims to reach all segments of the society with the astronomy workshops he started to organize voluntarily after he got into the Astronomy and Space Sciences Department of Istanbul University. To make his volunteer activities more systematic and sustainable, he founded the Stellar Lab, the first digital astronomy library in Turkey, with the philosophy of "Astronomy for Everyone".
Stellar Lab aims to provide equal opportunities in education while emphasizing the importance of learning astronomy together with different disciplines such as art, philosophy, and engineering. In addition, it aims to increase the interest of young people in basic sciences, to encourage girls to be interested in science and to get them inspired by female scientists.
Aiming to provide simple and downloadable astronomy-based educational content that is free of charge for teachers, students, and curious adults, the e-library includes original scientific content, online events, and training modules. In addition, thanks to the "Science Club", which was established in April 2020 and continues its activities with the initiative of high school students, more than 100 students published the 7th issue of the popular science magazine Spectrum with nearly 50 active volunteers.
Halil Bağış, who believes that astronomy is not a dream, that activities with high gains can be done with very simple tools and that astronomy can produce social benefits with its integrative aspects, continues to bring us together under the same sky with all our differences and to make a huge difference in the lives of science enthusiasts with his works.