Over the summer, Sonja Kosir ‘17 was awarded the opportunity of a lifetime: the chance to be a part of innovative research while learning about her family’s history and culture. Kosir received a fellowship from the American Slovenian Education Foundation, a nonprofit organization focused on connecting highly-talented students with other Slovenian professionals, to spend ten weeks in Slovenia conducting scientific research. Sonja, whose family is of Slovenian descent, found out about the opportunity from her grandfather. After witnessing a few of her friends take advantage of the opportunity, she decided to apply and was accepted.

Science fair definitely helped me learn about the research process and how to approach a scientific question.  I just really love that process. It’s the reason why I went into STEM.

-Sonja Kosir '17

She spent ten weeks living in Stranska Vas, a village outside of Ljubljana, the capital. In Ljubljana, Kosir worked at the University of Ljubljana in the Laboratory of Biocybernetics, home to one of the world’s leading programs in Electroporation-Based technology. Part of Sonja’s motivation for applying for this fellowship came from her studies at the University of Cincinnati, where she had read about the electroporation process and the prestigious Slovenian institution where the research was being conducted.

Electroporation, Kosir explained, is the process in which fast, high-voltage pulses are applied to cell membranes, momentarily disrupting cell action and enabling materials to be inserted to either kill or keep the membranes alive. This technology is used in the medical field, as electroporation offers an efficient method for delivery of medicine directly to the cells. As part of her research, Sonja sought to distinguish the lethality of different doses of nickel on living cells compared to the effect of the process itself. This study would provide helpful parameters to future research in this area.

Sonja credits her STEM courses at Carroll, as well her participation in science fair as a student, with igniting her love for science. “Science fair definitely helped me learn about the research process and how to approach a scientific question,” she said. “I just really love that process. It’s the reason why I went into STEM.” Learning how to overcome complex challenges through research inspired Sonja to pursue a career in science.

Not only was Kosir’s research challenging, but she also had to adjust to an entirely new country, community, and language. “It’s significantly the farthest I’ve been from home,” Kosir said, “The language barrier was a little bit of a struggle at times, but it helped me to get creative (with communication).” Just as Sonja was involved with the mass and liturgical choir as a Carroll student, Sonja got involved with a young adult group at an English-speaking church. “It was really fun to get to meet other kids who were international students at that time,” Sonja said. While her STEM skills were instrumental to her work as a researcher, her holistic education and faith-formation from her time at Carroll allowed Sonja to both engage with the international scientific community and encounter a new Catholic community abroad, all while immersing herself in her heritage.