The woman in charge of the world's biggest experiment

[n2doc]

04 March 2009 by Anil Ananthaswamy

Next month Fabiola Gianotti takes over as head of ATLAS at the Large Hadron Collider at CERN in Switzerland. The largest experiment of its kind, it could answer some of the mysteries of the universe. She talks to Anil Ananthaswamy about dark matter and deep truths

What are your thoughts on becoming the first woman to head a particle physics experiment at the LHC?

CERN is such a rich environment: there are people from all over the world, young students work with established scientists and Nobel prizewinners. So geographical origin, age and gender make no difference here. I don't feel there is anything special about a woman leading a big scientific project. On the other hand, I hope that as a woman scientist who has achieved a level of visibility in a big experiment like ATLAS, I can be an encouragement to young women who are thinking of a scientific career.

Why did you decide to become a particle physicist?

I came to physics from very far away. When I was a young girl, I loved art and music. I had been studying piano quite seriously at a conservatory and had taken courses in high school targeted towards literature, languages like ancient Greek and Latin, philosophy and history of art. I loved these subjects but I was also a very curious little girl. I was fascinated by the big questions. Why are things the way they are? This possibility of answering fundamental questions has always attracted me - my mind, my spirit, everything.

So, when I had to choose what I wanted to do with my life, I thought that physics could answer these big questions in a more concrete way than philosophy. I was right - in that I'm very happy now.

more:

http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20126971.600-the-woman-in-charge-of-the-worlds-biggest-experiment.html

[pleah]

1. K&R

[BlueJazz]

2. My kind of Woman!