Professor, Institut Préparatoire aux Etudes Scientifiques et Techniques
Country of birth: Tunisia
Country of residence: Tunisia
Educational background: DEA and Thesis in Quantum Physics, Université Paris VI, France
A typical work day.
I teach electromagnetism, quantum mechanics, atomic physics, and optics and lasers. In my research, I work on theoretical studies of atomic and molecular structure and spectroscopy, and their applications in the environment and biology. In developing countries like Tunisia, a married woman like me has a lot of things to do every day. She has generally two jobs: one at home taking care of family, cooking, etc., and one out of the house. These women must accomplish their tasks with a lot of bravery and courage.
(Souad Lahmar pictured second from left.)
What I enjoy most.
Being able to participate in the activities of my institution in parallel with my family tasks makes me very happy. It is exciting and enriching to teach and do research. It gives me the opportunity to be in contact with young students and colleagues from my country and all over the world. Recently I had the opportunity to participate, as a volunteer resource person, in several UNESCO Active Learning in Optics and Photonics (ALOP) training-of-trainers workshops in developing countries (including my country). I am proud to be part of a project whose accomplishments had an important impact on teaching in developing countries.
Words of wisdom.
If someone had told me, when I was choosing my field of research, that there is a field in the history of science, I would have chosen it, especially the history of science developed in the Islamic world between the 7th and 16th centuries. This science contributed much to the modern world of science, especially in optics, and most of the texts and books were written in Arabic, which is my mother and official country language.