From Indonesia to Hanover – Dr Brilliant’s journey into top-level hearing research
Dr Brilliant is an Indonesian engineer and a neuroscientist. He currently works as postdoc in the Auditory Neuroscience Lab of Prof. Dr Andrej Kral at Hannover Medical School (MHH). In this short interview, he talks about his journey to Germany as well as his work in the Cluster of Excellence Hearing4all.connects.
What brought you to Hanover?
My parents came from entrepreneurial rather than academic backgrounds, a situation shared by many families in Indonesia. Even so, believing in the value of international education, they strived to send all their children abroad. That’s why I was be able to spend a year of high school in the USA. Afterwards, because of the excellent reputation in research and education along with affordable living cost and tuition fees, we decided it would be the best for me to study in Germany. I then joined the Studienkolleg Jakarta. At first, I considered majoring in arts. Eventually, I decided to study engineering, inspired by my father, who once worked as an electrician. This way I came to Hanover where I studied Mechatronics at undergraduate level as the Studienkolleg Jakarta cooperates with the Leibniz University Hannover.
What makes research within the Cluster of Excellence Hearing4all.connects so special?
During my undergraduate study, I developed an interest in biology and medicine-related topics. Because of that, I continued my study in Biomedical Engineering for my Master’s degree, also at the Leibniz University Hannover. For my PhD, I then moved to Hannover Medical School, precisely at working group of Andrej Kral, specializing in the field of Auditory Neuroscience. Therefore, I became a member of the Cluster of Excellence Hearing4all.connects where my research focus lies on the electrophysiological processes from the human ear to the brain. Working within the cluster is remarkable for two reasons: First, it offers a highly interdisciplinary research environment and second, because it focuses on a great societal problem that is often underestimated, namely the loss of hearing.
What are your personal aims for the future?
I would love to pursue a career in academia for as far as the opportunity allows. Regardless of where I will be, the most important thing for me is to be able to keep learning and to stay curious. I believe that good research is not where we have all the perfect answers, but where we evoke new set of questions and problems to be pursued in the future. For that reason, I am very grateful that Germany, the MHH and the cluster enable me to do just that.
Interview: Henning Kulbarsch
