Faïrouz Malek is a French and Algerian physicist specializing in

nuclear physics Nuclear physics is the field of physics that studies atomic nuclei and their constituents and interactions, in addition to the study of other forms of nuclear matter. Nuclear physics should not be confused with atomic physics, which studies th ...

particle physics Particle physics or high-energy physics is the study of Elementary particle, fundamental particles and fundamental interaction, forces that constitute matter and radiation. The field also studies combinations of elementary particles up to the s ...

and

cosmology Cosmology () is a branch of physics and metaphysics dealing with the nature of the universe, the cosmos. The term ''cosmology'' was first used in English in 1656 in Thomas Blount's ''Glossographia'', with the meaning of "a speaking of the wo ...

. A research scientist at the

French National Centre for Scientific Research The French National Centre for Scientific Research (, , CNRS) is the French state research organisation and is the largest fundamental science agency in Europe. In 2016, it employed 31,637 staff, including 11,137 tenured researchers, 13,415 engi ...

, she is involved in international research at the

CERN The European Organization for Nuclear Research, known as CERN (; ; ), is an intergovernmental organization that operates the largest particle physics laboratory in the world. Established in 1954, it is based in Meyrin, western suburb of Gene ...

LHC The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) is the world's largest and highest-energy particle accelerator. It was built by the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) between 1998 and 2008, in collaboration with over 10,000 scientists, and ...

. She has contributed to the discovery of the Higgs boson. She is also known for her commitment to gender parity in science, as well as to the development of science in

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...

. She is

fellow A fellow is a title and form of address for distinguished, learned, or skilled individuals in academia, medicine, research, and industry. The exact meaning of the term differs in each field. In learned society, learned or professional society, p ...

of the

African Academy of Sciences The African Academy of Sciences (AAS) is a non-aligned, non-political, not-for-profit, pan-African learned society formed in 1985. The AAS elects fellows ( FAAS) and affiliates. The AAS also awards the Obasanjo Prize for Scientific Discovery a ...

. She is the niece of Algerian

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and def ...

Ahmed Malek Ahmed Malek is an Egyptian actor. Career Malek starred in Mohamed Diab's '' Clash'', which opened the Un Certain Regard at the 2016 Cannes Film Festival. Other roles include '' Sheikh Jackson'' (2017), '' Hepta: The Last Lecture'' and '' La To ...

Early life and education

Malek studied at Algiers

Omar Racim Omar Racim (1884–1959) was an Algerian artist who founded the Algerian school of miniature painting in 1939, alongside his brother Mohammed Racim. Racim also founded the nationalist journals ''Al Djazair'' in 1908, ''Al Farouq'' in 1913, and ' ...

High School and graduated in physics at the

University of Science and Technology Houari Boumediene The University of Science and Technology – Houari Boumediene (, USTHB, ) is a university located in the town of Bab-Ezzouar from Algiers, Algeria. The university was designed by Brazilian architect Oscar Niemeyer and was inaugurated in 1974. ...

. Malek earned a

PhD A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

in nuclear and particle physics at Université Grenoble-Alpes (former

Joseph Fourier University Joseph Fourier University (UJF, , also known as Grenoble I) was a French university situated in the city of Grenoble and focused on the fields of sciences, technologies and health. It is now part of the Université Grenoble Alpes. Importance ...

), where she worked on the fission of hypernuclei.

Research and career

Malek was member of an experiment at

, which research was about the

quark–gluon plasma Quark–gluon plasma (QGP or quark soup) is an interacting localized assembly of quarks and gluons at Thermodynamic equilibrium#Local and global equilibrium, thermal (local kinetic) and (close to) chemical (abundance) equilibrium. The word ''plasm ...

, a physics state observed in 2000. This state of matter is frequently compared to the

primordial soup Primordial soup, also known as prebiotic soup and Haldane soup, is the hypothetical set of conditions present on the Earth around 3.7 to 4.0 billion years ago. It is an aspect of the heterotrophic theory (also known as the Oparin–Haldane hypothes ...

that existed shortly after the

Big Bang The Big Bang is a physical theory that describes how the universe expanded from an initial state of high density and temperature. Various cosmological models based on the Big Bang concept explain a broad range of phenomena, including th ...

. Malek has contributed to the

Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer The Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer (AMS-02) is a particle physics experiment module that is mounted on the International Space Station (ISS).Kristine Rainey (April 2, 2013)Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer (AMS): How It Works NASA. Retrieved June 2, 20 ...

detector concept, an apparatus which flew and was installed in the

International Space Station The International Space Station (ISS) is a large space station that was Assembly of the International Space Station, assembled and is maintained in low Earth orbit by a collaboration of five space agencies and their contractors: NASA (United ...

to search for the anti-matter in space. Malek joined the

ATLAS experiment ATLAS is the largest general-purpose particle detector experiment at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), a particle accelerator at CERN (the European Organization for Nuclear Research) in Switzerland. The experiment is designed to take advantage of ...

in 2000. She was leading the

Grenoble Grenoble ( ; ; or ; or ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of the Isère Departments of France, department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Regions of France, region ...

group who were responsible for the design and prototyping of the Liquid Argon (LAr) Calorimeter and was the scientific leader of the French WLCG grid-computing infrastructure. Together with the worldwide

collaborators, she contributed to the discovery of the

Higgs boson The Higgs boson, sometimes called the Higgs particle, is an elementary particle in the Standard Model of particle physics produced by the excited state, quantum excitation of the Higgs field, one of the field (physics), fields in particl ...

, announced in 2012. Malek was President of the Alps branch of the French Physics Society,

Société Française de Physique The Société Française de Physique (SFP), or the French Physical Society, is the main professional society of French physicists. It was founded in 1873 by Joseph-Charles d'Almeida. History The French Physical Society is a state-approved non- ...

(SFP) from 2000 to 2002. Member of the

European Physical Society The European Physical Society (EPS) is a non-profit organisation whose purpose is to promote physics and physicists in Europe through methods such as physics outreach, supporting physicists to engage in the design and implementation of European s ...

since 2007, she served in the "physics for development group" during four years (2010-2014). She also served in the "Physics for development Committee (C13)" of the International Union of Pure and Applied Physics (

IUPAP The International Union of Pure and Applied Physics (IUPAP; ) is an international non-governmental organization whose mission is to assist in the worldwide development of physics, to foster international cooperation in physics, and to help in the ...

) organization from 2009 to 2015.

Physics for development in Africa

In 2019, Malek and Kétevi Assamagan, published an opinion letter to address the issue of the absence of the African continent in worldwide science and technology prospects, particularly in fondamental physics. Shortly after, in 2020, Malek co-founded with Kétevi Assamagan among others, the "African Strategy for Fundamental and Applied Physics", seeking to identify priorities, directions and means for the scientific research, education and capacity building for the African continent. In 2022, she was invited to join the African Synchrotron Initiative Think Tank, initiated by the

, in view to set up a Pan-African Synchrotron facility and gave a talk on that subject at the 14th

General Assembly.

Gender parity in science

Malek is involved in equity and inclusion in science activities. She founded and was the first president of the Association pour la Parité dans les Métiers Scientfiques et Techniques ( Parité Science) in 2002. She contributes to projects and activities to promote women scientists, within the French national association Femmes et Sciences as well as within the European Platform for Women Scientists (EPWS). She coordinated the exhibition "La Science Taille XX elles" to promote women scientists, in Grenoble area.

Distinctions

* From 2000 to 2002, she served as president of the Alpes branch of the French Physics Society * On the occasion of the 60th anniversary of CERN, her profile was presented, among other scientists, at the

Palais de la Découverte Palais () may refer to: * Dance hall, popularly a ''palais de danse'', in the 1950s and 1960s in the UK * ''Palais'', French for palace **Grand Palais, the Grand Palais des Champs-Elysées **Petit Palais, an art museum in Paris * Palais River in t ...

, from October 17, 2014 to July 19, 2015 in the exhibition "Experts in the field - Views on CERN ” as well as on the “CERN 360° Experience” * In 2020, she was distinguished

of the

Selected publications

Malek has authored or co-authored more than 1200 articles, most of which deal with the physics of the ATLAS experiment. Among all of these articles, 18 have been cited more than 500 times.

Articles and book chapters

* Michèle Leduc, Faïrouz Malek et Roger Maynard, ''Reflets de la physique'', May 2007 * Faïrouz Malek, ''Reflets de la physique'', July- August 2010 * Faïrouz Malek, ''Micro Hebdo'', 2010 * Faïrouz Malek, ''Reflets de la Physique'', October 2011 * Faïrouz Malek, ''Pour la Science'', 25 October 2013 * Faïrouz Malek, Book chapter, CNRS Editions, 2017, 368 p. (), « Le CERN et les Big Data »

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Malek, Fairouz Living people 1964 births 20th-century Algerian physicists Algerian women physicists 20th-century Algerian women scientists 21st-century Algerian physicists Fellows of the African Academy of Sciences University of Science and Technology Houari Boumediene alumni French National Centre for Scientific Research scientists Translation People associated with CERN People associated with IUPAP