We designed the rOpenSci Champions Program with a mentorship aspect. Mentoring plays a significant role in the growth and development of both mentors and mentees alike. In our program, each Champion has a mentor who accompanies them during their training and development of their project.

In this series of blog posts, we introduce you to the ten teams of this first cohort and what they will be working on in the program.

Meet Alican Cagri Gokcek from Turkey and Elio Campitelli from Argentina!

Alican Cagri Gokcek – Champion

My name is Alican Cagri Gokcek. I am originally from Turkey, and currently live in the United States. I am a visually impaired person since the birth. I have a BA and MA from the department of Political Science and International Relations at Bogazici University, Istanbul, Turkey where I also spent three more years as a Ph.D. student before coming to the United States in August 2022 to start my new Ph.D. training from scratch in the department of Political Science at the University of Nevada, Reno. My research interests are social movements and contentious politics with a specific focus on labor; international political economy with a special interest in capitalism’s crises and opportunities in the contemporary world; and computational social science with a specific focus on accessibility of statistics and statistical software in education. In the Champions Program, I aim to become a peer reviewer to contribute to the package evaluation processes from the viewpoint of the disabled. I believe that the Champions Program sends an invaluable message to the entire R community through its inclusiveness and respect for underrepresented minorities.

Elio Campitelli – Mentor

I’m a PhD student at the University of Buenos Aires where I study atmospheric circulation in the Southern Hemisphere and how it affects weather in South America. I’m also the maintainer for several R packages and am a teacher of R and data analysis. As a mentor, I’m exited to be able to help people to navigate the waters of package maintenance with what I learnt from my successes and mistakes.

We look forward to seeing the results of this team from our champions program. We will continue with more team presentations in the coming weeks, stay-tuned!