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Left China as collateral
Leaving China
At the time, far more people wanted to leave China than were allowed to. Her father had been sent to Germany for a PhD at the University of Heidelberg, and she and her mother were meant to remain behind. Instead, they went to join him, and the family settled in Germany.
Following his work
From there they followed his work from university to university. One stop was the University of Oslo, where he worked at the observatory on astrophysics and she went to public school and became a little bit Norwegian. Next came Canada, where the family became citizens, which was exciting and welcoming.
Settling in America
She came to the United States for college and has been here ever since, naturalizing a few years ago during the first Trump administration. The American dream was inherited from her father. If he hadn't gone to Germany, he would have tried for the United States, and the only thing in his way was that it was oversubscribed as a destination at the time.
Why do astrophysicists gravitate to Heidelberg?
Heidelberg University, founded in 1386, is the oldest university in modern Germany. The city is also home to the Max Planck Institute for Astronomy, established in 1967, and the Landessternwarte observatory on Königstuhl hill. Together they make Heidelberg one of the main centers of astronomy research in Europe.
How did Oslo become an astrophysics center?
The University of Oslo's observatory dates to 1833. In 1934, the Norwegian astrophysicist Svein Rosseland founded the university's Institute of Theoretical Astrophysics. Rosseland also oversaw construction of a differential analyzer, an early mechanical computer, in the late 1930s.
Why do academics move so often early on?
Early research careers usually run through a series of postdoctoral posts, which are short fixed-term positions lasting about two to three years. Each is tied to a specific lab or grant, so researchers relocate when the funding ends. Permanent academic jobs are far fewer than the number of PhDs graduating each year.
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