Beyond Bias: News fromICTP and Physical Sciences Women inMathematical

136 AUTUMN / WINTER 2013 2 Beyond Bias Women in Mathematical and Physical Sciences

We have a hunger of the mind which asks for knowledge of all around us, and the more we gain, the more is our desire; the more we see, the more we are capable of seeing.

Maria Mitchell (1818-1889), co-founder of the Amer- ican Association for the Advancement of Women and first woman to work as a professional astronomer.

Taking Mitchell’s words to heart, ICTP offers you this newsletter issue of illuminating pieces on women in mathematical and physical sciences. Regardless of what country and culture they come from, these women share a hunger for knowledge and were kind enough to express how this hunger led them to pur- sue careers in physical or mathematical research, the scientific fields with the fewest women professionals.

We were first inspired to dedicate this issue of News from ICTP from the efforts of Shobhana Narasimhan (JNCASR, Bangalore, India) and Elizabeth Simmons (Michigan State University, USA). They developed the idea for and organized the “Career Development Workshop for Women in Physics,” which ICTP hosted from 16 to 19 September (see story on page 4).

The workshop addressed some of the obstacles wom- en in physics still battle today, despite the gradually growing number of professional women physicists around the world. The women in our newsletter pro- file articles—like Helen Quinn, Nana Shatashvili and Zohra Ben Lakhdar—reflect upon what some of these obstacles are and how to overcome them. We hope these stories inspire readers as much as the subjects inspired us.

3 Connect for Success ICTP hosts Career Development Workshop for Women in Physics

hen physicists Shobhana Narasimhan The absence of a scientific-oriented culture coupled (JNCASR, Bangalore, India) and Elizabeth with the lack of funds and resources for science edu- W Simmons (Michigan State University, cation and research makes it difficult for any aspiring USA) felt compelled to help women in developing scientist in a developing country, but particularly countries overcome gender-bias barriers in science, for women. Even if a woman obtains her PhD, many they turned to ICTP because of its efforts to advance times she lacks mentors that can provide her with the science research in the developing world. From 16 to practical skills scientists need to succeed, such as cre- 19 September, the Centre was proud to host its first ating an informative CV, writing grant proposals for “Career Development Workshop for Women in Phys- research funding, and preparing and giving effective ics,” which Narasimhan and Simmons organized with presentations for networking. ICTP’s help. Therefore, Narasimhan and Simmons dedicated half The idea for the workshop arose when Narasimhan of the ICTP workshop to practical sessions where and Simmons attended last year’s annual Internation- participants learned and practiced the skills neces- al Conference for Women in Science and Technology. sary to succeed throughout their career. The other The conference took place in sub-Saharan Africa, half of the workshop involved inspirational talks from where many women in science struggle for equality such notable speakers as Sara Laschever, co-author of and career advancement. Together with southern and the book Women Don’t Ask, and Rachel Ivie, who has western Asia, sub-Saharan Africa is one of the few written numerous papers on women in physics for remaining regions in the world where men still com- the USA publication Physics Today, including “Wom- prise the majority in tertiary education. en in physics: A tale of limits” and “The global survey of physicists: A collaborative effort illuminates the During one of the presentations, a local female situation of women in physics.” scientist stood up amidst the crowd and spoke of her experience and frustration with discrimination. Her Speakers and panelists came from both developed employers had removed her from her position when and developing countries and addressed topics like she asked for maternity leave. This act of discrimina- unconscious bias and the role culture plays concern- tion shattered her faith in the local scientific commu- ing women’s fight for equality in their home coun- nity as well as discouraged her to continue with her tries’ scientific community. For example, many wom- research. en in sub-Saharan Africa marry before they reach the age of 20, which—with the expectations of raising “The moment was so moving because of the respons- children in a harsh environment—drastically limits es from the crowd,” Narasimhan recalls. “Other wom- their chances for career advancement. One speaker en spoke up and encouraged this lady to not give up from Johannesburg, South Africa addressed some of and to keep fighting. It was then that I realized how the additional challenges facing women in Africa. much help women scientists in developing countries need and that we should do something for them.” “I agreed to be a speaker at this workshop in order to gain experience in career development, broaden my Simmons adds that women in developing countries horizon and knowledge as well as share my view with are in particular need of career-building workshops regards to the social, religious, political and economic like the one at ICTP in mid-September. “These problems hindering the progress of women in physics women sometimes experience a complete sense in Africa. These include a lack of mentorship, poverty of isolation. Developed countries are now offering and social violence toward women, intimidation, and more workshops of this type, so we wanted to provide stereotype and superiority among men,” says Iyabo something to women who don’t necessarily have ac- Usman, who is a faculty member and experimental cess to these kinds of workshops,” she explains. nuclear physicist at the University of the Witwaters-

4 Rachel Ivie Shobhana Narasimhan

rand in Johannesburg, South Africa. She is also a mem- “Sometimes women who face discrimination may in- ber of the women’s support group Women in Physics ternalize the experience and think that they are being in South Africa (WiPiSA), which is sponsored through treated differently because they are not doing a good the South African Institute of Physics. enough job or have other self-incriminating thoughts, when in reality it’s because of their gender,” she says. Thirty-four male physicists greatly outnumber the four female physicists in Iyabo’s department. She says that Simmons adds, “We would also like the participants she hopes the workshop will give her “ways of coping to take the knowledge they gain from the work- within the male-dominated field by getting assistance shop back to their research institutions and inform through mentorship from established faculty mem- and teach their female colleagues about what they bers” who are participating in the workshop. learned.”

Bringing women from all parts of the world together Over 250 women from more than 40 countries ap- will help build a network that women can then use for plied for the workshop, of which about 40 attended. advice, encouragement and support. When it comes Narasimhan wishes they could have included many to discrimination, it’s important to understand you’re more, but funding restrictions intervened. The num- not alone, Narasimhan says. Participants shared their ber of applications clearly indicates the need for this experiences and recognized similarities between theirs type of workshop, she says, and if she and Simmons and others’. Narasimhan hopes this will help women organize a similar workshop in the future she hopes learn to handle their own situations as well as under- to gather more funds in order to provide more oppor- stand discrimination when they come across it. tunities.

5 Overcoming the Odds ICTP Associate and physics professor Zohra Ben Lakhdar shares her thoughts on being a woman in a male-dominated field

ohra Ben Lakhdar thrives on challenges. difficult subjects for men and therefore impossible for As one of the few women to enter in the women,” says Ben Lakhdar. Zmale-dominated arena of physics and math- ematics research in the 1960s, Ben Lakhdar had Ben Lakhdar went on to pursue higher studies in plenty of challenges thrown her way. Considered one France and earned her doctorate on atomic inter- of the prominent figures in physics in Tunisia today, actions using spectroscopy and spectral analysis. Ben Lakhdar started her scientific pursuits more An important life lesson Ben Lakhdar learned while than 30 years ago when most women in the tradi- completing her thesis work was how to prioritize. “My tional Tunisian society were confined to the roles of husband and I were both in the midst of our theses mothers and wives. work, and we decided to first complete our doctorates and then start a family. And I think it is important Ben Lakhdar was appointed as professor of physics that women in the workforce learn the importance of at Tunis El Manar University in Tunisia in 1978. She prioritizing.” later went on to direct the university’s Laboratory of Atomic-Molecular Spectroscopy and Applica- When Ben Lakhdar returned to Tunisia to accept a tions. In 2005, Ben Lakhdar was honoured with the professorship, she was among the few women with a L’Oréal-UNESCO award for Women in Science for faculty position. “Equal rights laws for women are a her experiments and models on infrared spectros- step in the right direction, but we also need to see a copy and its applications to pollution, detection and change in attitudes. That can start at home, with par- medicine. A staunch friend of ICTP and an Associate ents treating their sons and daughters equally,” says Member of the Centre since 2001, Ben Lakhdar says Ben Lakhdar, a mother of two daughters. that research means exchanges of ideas, looking for answers and solving problems, and these aspects are what attracted her to science. “Knowledge is For Ben Lakhdar, growing up in a large family meant helping with household chores and taking care of power, and for a long younger siblings while also completing school work. “I was among the older of ten siblings,” says Ben time power has been Lakhdar. “I went to school but had tasks at home too. Education was important to my family, and it associated with men, so was through education and by doing well at school that I earned the respect of my parents, brothers and knowledge remained sisters.” with men. But things When Tunisia gained independence in 1956, the country enacted laws to give women and men equal are changing and I rights in education. “Having laws in place was an important step. I gained admission to Sadiki College, hope to see women which was the best school in Tunis for physics and mathematics. At that time, I was the only woman gaining power through in my class.” Although her professors and peers were welcoming, Ben Lakhdar felt that the society’s knowledge.” attitude toward women entering science—a man’s domain up to that point—was far from accepting. “Physics and mathematics were thought of as Zohra Ben Lakhdar

6 7 8 the science and mathematics courses. I think this was You Could Be a partly because those were the courses I excelled in, and partly because I was steadily encouraged in my interest Mathematician in this direction particularly by my father, himself an engineer. How Helen Quinn overcame 1950s social mores to achieve I matriculated from high school at age 16 and started at Melbourne University. In my second year there, my scientific success father was invited to transfer to the US to work for the parent company of the small engineering firm he had led in Australia. The US company offered to move the entire family to the US for three years, or longer if we de- grew up in Australia, in a time and place where cided to stay. We all agreed that a three year stay in the young girls were not encouraged to think in terms US would be an interesting experience. We all stayed I of lifelong careers. We might work for a few years much longer than that! before settling down to marriage and raising a family. Not only my teachers, but also my parents viewed that I looked up and applied to two universities that were as the expected pattern of my life. It never occurred to close to where my family would be: Stanford and the me to question it. So I never dreamed of the life I would University of California at Berkeley. Stanford was more eventually lead, as a scientist with world-wide connec- generous about giving me credit for the work I had tions to colleagues and an international reputation. done in Australia, so I chose to go there. A physics major turned out to be the easiest one to complete. I could do Fortunately, my parents valued imagination and curi- it in one year and one quarter of study. osity. They treated me no differently from my brothers in the way they encouraged these skills, while ensuring By the time I had completed my undergraduate degree that I also developed the skills I would need as a wife I had become truly interested in physics, and Stanford and mother. The school that I moved to in second grade faculty were actively encouraging me to go on to gradu- was also a very fortunate choice for me, as its elemen- ate school. I applied for PhD programmes, even though tary school programme had a progressive educational I doubted I would complete one. I did this simply be- style, modelled on the thinking of John Dewey, that cause the schools that looked most interesting to me did fostered individual motivation and intellectual devel- not accept students for a master’s degree programme. opment. Its high school programme, while more formal Secretly I planned to complete a one-year master’s and structured, was fortunate in the quality of the wom- degree and then become a high school physics teacher. en who were its teachers. These were intelligent women, I simply did not yet have confidence that I could have almost all of them unmarried; teaching was one of the a career in physics. But by the end of that first year I few careers open to them. They valued and supported had become fascinated by the physics I was learning. I my eagerness to learn and challenged me to think. stayed and became a physicist. My specialty is particle physics. I remember my excellent high school math teacher once strayed from the party line on careers. She said to I married a fellow physics student and we began our me, “Helen, you could be a mathematician,” but added careers with postdoctoral appointments at DESY, a after a short pause, “because you are so lazy. You refuse high energy physics laboratory in Hamburg, Germany. to do a problem the hard way, you always think until We then moved to the Boston area, where my husband you find a clever way to solve the problem.” I was not taught at Tufts and I eventually became a faculty mem- sure whether I had been scolded or praised, but I was ber at Harvard. We lived there for seven years and our surprised by the suggestion that mathematics could be two children were born during this time (so I was, and a career. am, a wife and a mother, as well as being a physicist; indeed this year I am looking forward to becoming a I never consciously decided that science was my path. grandmother). We returned to California in 1976, when The first time that I had a choice about what subjects my husband began a new career in decision analysis. I I would study was in 10th grade. When I suggested a have been at SLAC (Stanford Linear Accelerator Center) plan of study that did not include the most challeng- since 1977. ing level of science offered, both my teachers and my parents insisted that was not the right choice for me. I Adapted from One Hundred Reasons to Be a Scientist, took the courses they suggested. In the next two years 2005, published by ICTP the number of subjects one could study continued to narrow and the content of the courses deepened. I always took as many courses as I could, including all Helen Quinn

9 through working with the scientists at ICTP. They do Gaining Direction very advanced science, which helped me gather new ideas and that was encouraging. ICTP helped me find Astrophysicist Nana Shatashvili my own direction.” shares her scientific trials and Adorning the walls of her office at Ivane Javakhishvili triumphs in the face of political Tbilisi State University, where she is now an astrophysics change in Georgia professor, are posters from ICTP conferences she’s attended over the last 15 years. She often refers to them when discussing her experiences at ICTP with students and colleagues. As important as finding her direction in research was at ICTP, she says, the Centre did even ith scientists for grandparents, a more by boosting her self-confidence in her abilities as a mathematician for a mother and a theoretical scientist. And confidence is a trait that people will notice Wphysicist for a father, it was no surprise when beyond gender. Nana Shatashvili and her brother became the third generation to uphold the family tradition and pursue “I have had little trouble in my career in terms of my careers in mathematical and physical sciences. But gender. But, if I would have had problems as a woman, times were different growing up in the Georgian Soviet that was cancelled because I was confident in my Socialist Republic, part of the Soviet Union, and by the abilities,” she says. time Shatashvili was a working research scientist in the mid-1980s, Georgia was a country teetering on the brink of political turmoil. “When you get to “In a way, it was practically impossible for young a certain level in your researchers to travel and difficult to construct any collaborations with leading centres outside of the Soviet field and are confident Union,” Shatashvili recalls. and independent with As a child, Shatashvili excelled in mathematics. Although she was one of the few females in her classes your research, no one to do so, her gender did not affect the opportunities, stipends and scholarships she would later receive in questions if you’re a her pursuit toward a career in physics research. In fact, the Communist system encouraged and upheld woman.” equal opportunities for women and men. As a result, Shatashvili and her female colleagues comprised about The budget cuts and reforms that came about in one third of the scientific staff in Tbilisi State University, 2005 due to political changes in Georgia drastically where she worked as a junior and eventual senior reduced the number of positions available for research research scientist throughout the 1980s and early 1990s. scientists and thus the number of men and women willing to pursue a career in scientific research. Today At that time, Shatashvili was a theoretical physicist the numbers are improving, but Shatashvili sees more researching hydrodynamic fluids. She knew her women studying math than physics at Tbilisi State interests reached beyond theoretical modeling, but the University because of the teaching positions they can inability to explore different topics with collaborators obtain immediately after completing school. The few from various backgrounds and disciplines left her women who do study physics, however, are as equally probing for which direction to take. When Georgia competent as the men and are given just as much declared its independence from the Soviet Union in opportunity, she says. In fact, one of her former female 1991, the border regulations disappeared and doors of students, Mariami Rusishvili, is attending the ICTP opportunity opened for scientists like Shatashvili. Four Postgraduate Diploma Programme for the academic years later, she visited ICTP for the first time, where she year 2013/14, which began this September. developed an interest in solar plasma astrophysics, the topic she continues to study today. “When scientists in society are not valued, then it is very difficult for anyone to study science,” Shatashvili says. “To be successful in science, it is important to have your “But Georgia recognizes science and so it should not own direction and be confident and independent,” matter what gender you are or what background you Shatashvili says. “I got the chance to start establishing have as long as you possess the underlying curiosity that external collaborations and the best way I did that was is what drives scientific research.”

10 The Galvanizer ICTP Associate Meral Tosun urges female scientists to stand strong through career challenges

athematician Meral Tosun has studied in many parts of the world, including France, MItaly, Japan, Mexico and her home country, Turkey. As a woman, studying math in Turkey was never an issue for Tosun. She had equal opportunities compared to her male peers and, due to the large percentage of Turkish women studying math, was never a minority based on her gender until she left the country to pursue higher education. She earned a Meral Tosun scholarship to attend the Université Paris VII in France to study toward a PhD in algebraic geometry where “This woman successfully completed a PhD she was one of two female students in her class of 20. programme at a prestigious university, so why quit after having a child? She clearly has talent and skill, After completing her PhD at Aix-Marseille Université, and that’s why I tried to help her,” Tosun says. she came to ICTP for her first postdoc in 1999, where she met many renowned mathematicians and Tosun’s colleague now has two children and continues physicists. During her postdoc, she presented her to work with Tosun as a professor of mathematics at PhD research and collaborated with Professor M.S. Galatasaray University in Istanbul. The department Narasimhan and other notable visitors. “I am still very has seven professors, three of whom are women. In good friends with many of the people I met during my fact, despite the downward trend of women studying postdoctoral fellowship at ICTP, and I still collaborate mathematics, Turkey generally has a large number with some of them,” Tosun says. of women in bachelor mathematics programmes. For the 2011/12 academic year, around 60 percent No matter what country Tosun visits, she sees the of undergraduate math majors attending Turkish same trend of women in mathematics: as women universities were women. Compare that with the advance toward higher levels of education in math, roughly 10 percent of women ranked as professors of more choose to drop out of academia, often because math in the country and the downward trend emerges. they meet a crossroads between family and career. While governments in many countries are addressing “Math is still a man’s world,” Tosun says. “Moreover, the topic of pregnancy in the academic world by if a woman has a baby, it is practically impossible for offering maternity leave, Tosun argues that some her to attend a conference unless she finds care for the approaches are better than others, and she works to child, which is not the case for the father.” help mothers remain active in academics. With that in mind, Tosun and two other female “Some governments allow a woman to take between mathematicians organized two workshops for women six months to a year off for maternity leave, but this in mathematics that included facilities for child care. can push women into isolation,” Tosun says. Today, she is an ICTP Associate and professor of mathematics at Galatasaray University, continuing her A year away from research is enough time to make research in singularity theory/algebraic geometry. any scientist rusty, which simply adds to the difficulty of returning to work while finding care for a child. “I think that the Associateship is one of the best Therefore, when one of Tosun’s colleagues had her applications of ICTP,” she says. “After I’m finished with first child, Tosun encouraged her to work part-time my teaching duties, I enjoy the opportunity to go to two months after giving birth. Instead of teaching such a peaceful and relaxing place to think on my three lectures per semester she taught one, and the students’ research problems and have time to read and approach worked. learn new things.”

11 Women in Science at ICTP 2002-2012

Female Course Participants from Top 10 Countries, Distribution by Field of Study

High Energy, Cosmology 142 countries represented and Astroparticle (including 18 LDCs) Physics (HECAP) Condensed Matter and Statistical Physics (CMSP)

Mathematics (MATH)

Earth System Physics (ESP)

Applied Physics (AP)

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50

0 India Iran Argentina Brazil China

12 Women in Science at ICTP 2002-2012

Top 10 countries of origin in developing regions: 20% of total visitors are women; 51% of these are 704 India from developing countries 410 Iran 364 Argentina 345 Brazil 323 China 190 Turkey 188 Cuba 162 Pakistan 155 Mexico 148 Algeria 10,000 visits since 250 2002 200

150

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0 Turkey Cuba Pakistan Mexico Algeria

13 Graduate Honours Diploma alumna earns top UK PhD award

himene Daleu, a graduate of ICTP’s on thermodynamic variability in cloud-resolving Postgraduate Diploma Programme (2009), has simulations of tropical deep convection under the C won a prestigious PhD Research of the Year supervision of ICTP scientist Adrian Tompkins. Award from the University of Reading, UK, Faculty of Sciences, where she has been pursuing doctoral studies “ICTP’s Postgraduate Diploma Programme was quite in atmospheric physics and meteorology. intense,” Daleu recalls, adding “It gives students the chance to gain international experience. The training She was also named the second best PhD student of the level at ICTP is a pre-PhD level, a level that is not university, which is the UK’s top school for meteorology accessible in most developing countries, including and climate studies. Cameroon.”

Coming from a country with less than 500 researchers She encourages students from developing countries (only a fraction of whom are women) and scarce who want to be scientists to never give up their dreams, research facilities, the Cameroonian had few mentors and to consider how a science education can benefit to encourage her deep curiosity in nature and the their home countries. “Science and technology play environment. Add to that a strong cultural bias against a crucial role in national development. Developing the pursuit of studies in physics or mathematics countries have their own resources that can be (especially for women), and one gets a sense of the best managed in the long term by a strong base of challenges Daleu has had to overcome to complete her home-trained labour in science, engineering and dream of a science education. mathematics.”

Daleu will now pursue postdoctoral studies at Reading, working on modeling the interactions between tropical convection and large-scale dynamics. “This postdoc will be a good opportunity for me to increase my ability to work as an independent research scientist. After completion, my plan is to return to Cameroon to teach and encourage the new scientific generation,” she explains.

Teaching and mentoring up-and-coming scientists is one of many goals for Daleu, who is also keen to apply her research experience. “I can use my knowledge to warn others when danger is approaching in the form of tornadoes and hurricanes. I can use the latest tools of modern technology—computers, radar, satellites—to discover how natural processes and human activities affect our atmosphere. I can simulate how pollution is changing the climate and other global systems. I can help make a difference for our planet and for our children and grandchildren.”

She concludes, “Being a meteorologist is so exciting!”

As an ICTP Postgraduate Diploma student, Daleu studied Earth System Physics, completing a thesis Chimene Daleu receiving her ICTP Diploma in 2009

14 15 More details about the ICTP Prize, including the full citations for this year’s winners, can be found on the ICTP Prize web page (www.ictp.it/about-ictp/prizes- awards/the-ictp-prize.aspx).

Yasaman Farzan Patchanita Thamyongkit

become interested in neutrino physics, especially that 2013 ICTP Prize since high school when I was preparing for a physics olympiad, I had made up my mind to become a Recipients Announced phenomenologist,” she explains.

This year’s prize honours neutrino, Professor Thamyongkit’s interests lie in organic energy research chemistry, in particular in the exploration of light- harvesting materials for solar energy. The ICTP Prize recognizes her experimental chemistry contributions CTP has awarded its 2013 ICTP Prize to two women to organic, conjugated, and semiconducting materials for research in the fields of high energy physics and of great relevance for photovoltaic research. I solar energy materials. Thamyongkit says she was shocked and enormously Physicists Yasaman Farzan of the Institute for Research grateful to receive the ICTP Prize. “As a chemist in Fundamental Sciences, Iran, and Patchanita working closely with physicists, to be recognized by Thamyongkit of Chulalongkorn University, Thailand, the physics society is very special for me, and this share this year’s prize for two very different areas of honor makes me feel motivated to do the best I can cutting-edge research. for the research in this field,” she says.

Professor Farzan, a former Junior Associate of ICTP, Thamyongkit hopes that her solar energy research specializes in neutrino research. The ICTP Prize will help Thailand harness an energy resource it has cites her theoretical contributions to the physics of in abundance––sunshine––to improve the country’s neutrinos, which have important consequences for development. “Like other people in the field, I think astrophysical observations and experiments at CERN’s that the development of the renewable source of Large Hadron Collider. energy is one of the primary agendas of our planet,” she says. Thamyongkit has worked for several years Farzan was a PhD student at the International School on the molecular design and synthesis of organic for Advanced Studies (SISSA), , during which materials for light-harvesting applications, including she had the opportunity to meet some of the world’s a research stint at the Linz Institute for Organic Solar leading neutrino physicists, including ICTP physicist Cells supported by the Marie Curie International Alexei Smirnov, who was her thesis supervisor. This, Incoming Fellowship. “This was a great opportunity combined with exciting experiment results coming and motivation for me to broaden my knowledge and from neutrino detectors such as the Sudbury Neutrino improve my research capabilities in the development Observatory, helped her decide which research of organic solar cells,” she explains. direction to take. “It was a natural atmosphere to

16 Thomas W.B. Kibble Phillip James E. Peebles Martin John Rees

that CERN detected last year). Kibble investigated Kibble, Peebles and what happens when a symmetry ‘disappears’ as the universe evolves from the Big Bang and understood the Rees Share the 2013 importance of ‘topological defects’, which are relics of Dirac Medal the past symmetric phase. Professor Peebles, Albert Einstein Professor Emeritus of Three physicists honoured for Science and Professor Emeritus of Physics at Princeton ground-breaking work University, USA, was one of the first scientists to predict the existence of the cosmic microwave background (a background of microwaves permeating the whole universe that originated from the Big Bang) and to study its implications for the development and evolution of CTP has awarded its 2013 Dirac Medal to three of the universe. He has also made major contributions to the world’s foremost physicists whose combined all areas of cosmology, including nucleosynthesis, dark I work has deepened our understanding of the early matter, dark energy and structure formation. universe, galaxy formation and black holes. Professor Rees, a Fellow of Trinity College and Professor Thomas W.B. Kibble, Phillip James E. Peebles and Emeritus of Cosmology and Astrophysics at the Martin John Rees share this year’s Dirac Medal for , UK, has made numerous their independent, ground-breaking work throughout important contributions to cosmology and astrophysics, their careers elucidating many aspects of fundamental including the origin of quasars (distant, bright objects physics, cosmology and astrophysics. in the universe that appear at the centre of young galaxies) and active galactic nuclei, the prediction of Professor Kibble, a Senior Research Fellow and supermassive black holes at the centre of galaxies, the Professor Emeritus of Theoretical Physics at Imperial physics of gamma ray bursts, the polarization of the College London, UK, has made major contributions to cosmic microwave background and the study of dark the physics of spontaneous symmetry breaking—the matter and of the first luminous objects. mechanism by which a physical system ‘loses’ some of its symmetries—and to its cosmological consequences. ICTP’s Dirac Medal, first awarded in 1985, is given in Kibble was among the first to study in the 1960s what honour of P.A.M. Dirac, one of the greatest physicists is now called the Higgs mechanism (an example of of the 20th century and a staunch friend of the Centre. spontaneous symmetry breaking), the process by It is awarded annually on Dirac’s birthday, 8 August, to which subatomic particles first gain their mass through scientists who have made significant contributions to interactions with the Higgs boson (the elusive particle theoretical physics.

17 ICTP Director Fernando Quevedo opening the SUSY conference News Highlights

SUSY Success Roy Glauber: A Peek at the Manhattan ICTP hosts 21st annual SUSY conference Project and Beyond ICTP hosts, for the second time, Nobel Laureate ICTP was the target destination in late August for hundreds of scientists who came to attend the 21st ICTP was honoured in July to host a lecture by annual Supersymmetry and Unification of Funda- Nobel Laureate Roy Glauber. Titled “Recollections of mental Interactions (SUSY) International Conference. Los Alamos and the Nuclear Era”, Glauber’s talk de- Physicists from around the world came together to scribed the practical side of living in the Los Alamos, discuss the past year’s groundbreaking results such as New Mexico community and the personal gains he the LHC’s monumental discovery of a Higgs boson. made as an undergraduate physicist working on SUSY 2013 is the first SUSY conference to take place the Manhattan Project. An intellectual bubble, Los in , making it an exciting and important moment Alamos consisted solely of scientists who all were in ICTP’s history as well. It was also one of the largest working on a single, top-secret project, the likes of SUSY conferences ever, with 366 scientists from 54 which had never been attempted and, if successful, countries participating in the event. could end the war, and did.

For a full report on the SUSY event, visit the confer- During the Manhattan Project, Glauber says he de- ence website at susy2013.ictp.it. veloped as much of an understanding of how phys- icists work as the mathematics he learned. Studying with and amongst some of the world’s intellectual giants of physics and mathematics, like Robert Op- penheimer and Enrico Fermi, might be intimidating for some. Glauber, however, found reassurance from the experience.

When the project closed in 1945, Glauber returned to school. The experience left him with a distaste for secret work, which in an indirect way lead him to later choose a field of study—optical coherence— unrelated to neutron diffusion and chain-reaction physics, a choice that paved the road to a Nobel Prize many decades later.

Roy J. Glauber with Diploma students

18 Making the Grade information, after the conceptual breakthrough of 35 young scholars receive ICTP John Bell and his famous inequalities. Postgraduate Diplomas In 1964, physicist John Bell’s theorem showed that the On 19 August, 35 young scholars from around the worldview of Einstein is not enough to describe the developing world received diplomas after complet- concept of entanglement. “The work by Bell is very ing ICTP’s intense, year-long Postgraduate Diploma important,” says Aspect. “Before Bell, people had a Programme. feeling that understanding entanglement was only a matter of interpreting quantum mechanics without Of the Diploma graduates, 11 will be pursuing PhDs any practical consequence.” at universities throughout the world. Four graduates have been admitted to ICTP’s joint PhD programme Bell’s theorem has allowed experimentalists to show with the International School for Advanced Studies that the concept of quantum entanglement is a real- (SISSA), Trieste, joining the 12 other Diploma gradu- ity, and based on this concept, the field of quantum ates who have been studying for their degrees since information has emerged, where one uses quantum the programme started in 2011. bits or ‘qubits’. In principle, entanglement between qubits can enable new methods for processing and Additionally, five Diploma graduates will pursue transmitting information in faster ways. master’s degrees, and 15 are returning to their home countries to follow various opportunities there.

This year’s Diploma graduates—10 of whom are ICTP and Armenia: Partners in Science women—came from 22 countries in Africa, Asia and New agreement promotes scientific Latin America. capacity building

Last May, the State Committee of Science of the Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic Quantum Bits for a New Quantum Age of Armenia (SCS) donated a lump sum of €50,000 to Alain Aspect’s colloquium looks at how ICTP’s endowment fund with an additional guaran- entanglement may usher in a new quantum age teed annual contribution of at least €10,000 over the next five years. Through this funding, ICTP agrees The beginnings of a new quantum age lie in the “weird to provide an objective perspective on Armenian quantum situation” that Boris Podolsky, Nathan Rosen scientific research, particularly in advanced studies and Albert Einstein described in their famous 1935 of physics and mathematics. paper. Alain Aspect (Institut d’Optique, Palaiseau, France), 2010 Wolf Prize winner, presented a colloqui- “It’s similar to when a scientist applies for a grant,” um at ICTP on 20 August 2013, giving the audience explains ICTP scientist George Thompson who plays insight into how Einstein and his co-authors’ ideas led a lead part in the collaboration. “ICTP will act as a to the exploration of the concept of quantum entan- funding agency and decide how best to invest this glement, which then laid the foundation for quantum money toward Armenian science.”

The latest ICTP Postgraduate Diploma Programme graduates 19 Participants of the Conference on Synthetic Aperture Radar

Expanding the InSAR Community Research ICTP hosts conference to build InSAR community of and Training scientists in developing countries For the last 20 years, space agencies have launched multiple satellites into space to monitor and record Earth-surface changes with greater ease than a single CORDEX Workshop land-based instrument. Scientists then use the in- Scientists from around the world come together formation these satellites collect to help them study to brainstorm on climate change geological disasters such as volcanoes and landslides.

A two-day workshop held at ICTP at the end of Sep- This summer, ICTP hosted the “Conference on Syn- tember took the first steps toward assimilating two thetic Aperture Radar: A Global Solution to Geological different methods comprising the Coordinated Re- Hazards,” which included state-of-the-art lectures gional Downscaling Experiment (CORDEX) project, and practical sessions. The sessions were dedicated which will vastly improve efforts in climate change to helping scientists in developing countries process projections for local regions that can cover between and utilize data taken from instruments using Inter- 100 and 200 square kilometers. ferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR), a radar technique that measures how Earth’s surface is chang- The two methods scientists apply using CORDEX ing over days, months and years. Abdelkrim Aoudia, a data are Regional Climate Model simulations and scientist with ICTP’s Earth System Physics section who Statistical Downscaling. The latter applies existing specializes in solid-Earth geophysics, organized the measurements of a region’s temperature, humidi- conference together with Ian Hamling, a former ICTP ty and other parameters that change with time to postdoc who is now at GNS New Zealand, and Tim projection models based from statistical processing. Wright of the School of Earth and Environment at the Regional Climate Model simulations perform simi- University of Leeds, UK. lar analysis but with different processing, which can lead to different results. Most SAR data is now open source; the trick is knowing what to do with the data once you have it. Conferenc- ICTP’S Earth System Physics section recently es like ICTP’s, therefore, are important and help in upgraded its regional climate modelling system al- building an InSAR community in developing countries, lowing scientists to run larger, longer simulations. In Aoudia says. 2012, ESP applied the upgraded model—version 4.3 of their RegCM4—to work within the framework of The first three days of the conference comprised theo- the CORDEX project. They ran 33 different climate retical lectures on how InSAR works and a fresh update scenarios for five different regions (Africa, Mediter- from satellite providers like ESA, COSMO-Sky-Med and ranean, South America, Central America and South WinSAR on the existing and future missions as well Asia), the results of which they hope to publish as several lectures on a variety of InSAR applications. within the next year. The last two days were dedicated to intense, practical sessions, which involved hands-on data processing.

20 TREGA in Action Eminent scientists who have conducted frontier tab- ICTP helps to improve the aviation sector letop research themselves organized this two-week, in sub-Saharan Africa interactive school with hands-on research involving tabletop experiments. Harry Swinney, director of the On 2 August, ICTP completed the first training ses- Center for Nonlinear Dynamics at the University of sion of its Training EGNOS GNSS in Africa (TREGA) Texas, Austin, was one of the school directors and a project. leading figure in the world of ‘small science’—science done in a small laboratory with simple equipment. TREGA is a joint project between the European “These kinds of experiments can be done anywhere Commission (EC) and ICTP to help improve Africa’s in the world,” says Swinney. aviation sector. The European Geostationary Navi- gation Overlay Service (EGNOS) is one of the leading projects in the Global Navigation Satellite System Destination: Algeria (GNSS) area devoted mainly to aviation. TREGA pro- Physics without Frontiers masterclasses ject leader Sandro Radicella, ICTP scientist and leader target Northern Africa of the ‘sister’ project SAFIR (Satellite navigation ser- vices for African Region), organized TREGA training Thanks to a unique educational outreach programme sessions at ICTP this summer (with more planned in conceived by ICTP postdoctoral fellows, young physi- 2014) with the purpose to train future members of the cists in developing countries have caught a glimpse of EGNOS-Africa Joint Programme Office (JPO), which the exciting science happening at CERN. was created by the SAFIR project. Established in 2012, Physics without Frontiers takes This summer’s training comprised about fifteen Afri- science on the road, bringing it to the far reaches of can professionals with at least five years of experience the developing world to inspire and engage young in aviation-related fields. For more details, please visit physics students. The organizers have spent signifi- the TREGA project website at www.ictp.it/trega.aspx. cant time at CERN as part of the ATLAS experiment team that discovered the Higgs-like boson, and the classes they teach give students direct exposure to the experimental physics taking place at CERN’s Large Hadron Collider (LHC).

For 2013, the destination was Algeria. The trip was organized by researchers from the ICTP/Udine ATLAS group and local Algerian scientists. Kate Shaw, a postdoctoral fellow with ICTP’s High Energy, Cosmol- ogy and Astropartical Physics section, and one of the creators of Physics without Frontiers, says that the masterclasses they conducted consisted of lectures and hands-on sessions using real LHC data, giving Participants of TREGA’s first training session at ICTP students excellent insight into the world of experi- mental physics. “Algerian scientists are planning to be part of the ATLAS collaboration, and this master class is a great way to lay the foundation for the future of experimental physics in Algeria,” says Shaw. Big Ideas for Small Science ICTP-sponsored hands-on activity introduces tabletop experiments to participants

At ICTP’s Multidisciplinary Laboratory this summer, scientists were busy working out the intricacies of complex phenomena such as fluid dynamics, cell migration, turbulence, and nonlinear optics. But, they were not using any high-end, expensive equipment for their experiments. Instead, they used simple, inexpen- sive apparatus for conducting tabletop experiments and understanding complex systems. The scientists were at ICTP for the Hands-on Research in Complex Systems School, which ran from 1-12 July 2013. Kate Shaw teaches at Constantine, Algeria

21 In Memoriam

Riazuddin at ICTPs 40th anniversary conference , far left, at ICTP, August 1990; he is with P.W. Anderson, , S. Lundqvist, P. Budinich and J.R. Schrieffer

Riazuddin 1930 to 2013 Heinrich Rohrer 1933 to 2013 by Pervez Hoodbhoy ICTP was saddened to learn of the passing of Nobel Riazuddin, born November 1930, passed away on 9 Laureate Heinrich Rohrer, a Swiss physicist who September, 2013 after an extended illness. A distin- shared half of the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1986 with guished Pakistani theorist, he published extensively Gerd Binnig for the design of the scanning tunneling on various problems in elementary particle physics. microscope (STM) that led to advances in nanotech- Working under the supervision of Abdus Salam, he nology and faster computing. obtained his PhD from Cambridge University in 1958 on the problem of pions and charge symmetry A year after he received the Nobel Prize, Rohrer gave breaking in the nucleon system, and followed it up a lecture at ICTP’s conference on “Scanning Tunne- by an important work on hadron mass differences ling Microscopy—Fundamental, Experimental and resulting from chiral symmetry breaking. Theoretical Progress”. ICTP scientist Erio Tosatti, the conference organizer, had met Rohrer at IBM Zurich Riazuddin’s book, Theory of Weak Interactions in a few years earlier while on sabbatical there. Particle Physics, coauthored with Robert Marshak and Ciaran Ryan, turned out to be a classic text for Rohrer became a friend of ICTP’s Condensed a generation of particle theorists in the 1970s. He Matter section, with Tosatti and his ICTP/SISSA authored over a dozen other books, including intro- colleagues—who were studying the theory of STM ductory ones in quantum mechanics and particle on at the time—working to expose Rohrer’s physics. His most widely quoted research used cur- research to the international science community. rent algebra to relate the rho-meson decay constant Tosatti describes Rohrer and Binnnig’s Nobel win as to the pion decay constant and goes under the name “one of the most deserved of all history.” of KSRF relation. It was written in collaboration with his twin brother Fayyazuddin, with whom he coau- thored numerous papers.

A man of gentle disposition and exceedingl soft- spoken, Riazuddin came from a modest mid- dle-class background. He was born in Ludhiana in British Punjab. After the 1947 partition of India the family migrated to Lahore. He worked quietly but effectively to help physics grow in Pakistan. In particular, he set up a scholarship fund for needy students from his personal funds, and then initiated and directed a summer school on physics and con- temporary needs.

22 ICTP on the web: www.ictp.it Editor Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Flicker, iTunes U Mary Ann Williams

The Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Scientific Editor/ Physics (ICTP) is administered by two United Nations Direttore responsabile agencies—the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Sandro Scandolo Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)—under an agreement with Managing Editor the Government of Italy. Anna Triolo

News from ICTP is a bi-annual publication designed to keep Statistician scientists and staff informed on past and future activities at Giuliana Gamboz ICTP and initiatives in their home countries. The text may be reproduced freely with due credit to the source. Writers Misha Kidambi Jessica Orwig ICTP Public Information Office Strada Costiera, 11 Photos I-34151 Trieste Roberto Barnabà Italy ICTP Photo Archives [email protected] Design Jordan Chatwin ISSN 2222-6923 Printed by Tergeste Grafica&Stampa, Trieste

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