27-year-old Usman was awarded the Commonwealth’s highest honor for young achievers by its newly appointed youth ambassador, Prince Harry of England in recognition of his efforts to promote and advance entrepreneurship.

Usman an engineer of the Ghulam Ishaq Khan (GIK) Institute of Engineering Sciences and Technology went onto pursue his Masters in engineering management from Australia. After the completion of his degree with Distinction from the University of Wollongong he faced major roadblocks in pursuing a career in his new home country.

He then went on to cofound Catalysr a first of its kind startup incubator for refugees and migrant workers in Australia that enables and empowers migrants to start their own businesses using the skills and talent they already possess. It is a social enterprise that seeks to cultivate the mindset and skillset necessary for becoming a future business leader.

“A lot of migrants and refugees who come to Australia can’t get into employment for various reasons, cultural barriers, language barriers, helping them say there’s an alternative solution to employment which is entrepreneurship,” he said. He added “We don’t tell people what to do. We find a problem they’re trying to fix through their business, then help them with mentoring and capital to help it become a reality.”

Dozens have budding entrepreneurs and innovators have gone through the program so far ranging from an Egyptian food truck, to people trying to print 3D diamonds.  His venture extends support to a diverse community of migrants with entrepreneurial ideas. His enterprise operates with the goal “to provide an alternate pathway to people and unleash their untapped potential to help change the landscape not just for them but also their communities.”

The Accelertaor program is also complimented with a podcast that features Migrapreneur Stories of different startups in the industry to help other adopt best practices.

References:

https://tribune.com.pk/story/1688706/3-pak-australian-engineer-bags-commonwealth-young-person-year-award/

https://www.sbs.com.au/news/australian-who-empowers-migrants-in-business-takes-out-commonwealth-youth-award

https://nation.com.pk/18-Apr-2018/commonwealth-young-person-of-the-year-pakistani-australian-engineer-steals-the-show?show=preview/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/usmaniftikhar/

https://www.dawn.com/news/1402339

The Transform Fund, launched last month in Tunisia aims to foster sustainable solutions through funding innovation and entrepreneurship in developing Muslim countries. Its mission is in alignment with UN’s Sustainable Development Goals that also aim to make provision for greater food security, healthy lifestyle, inclusive and equitable education, sustainable management of water and sanitation, access to affordable and clean energy, and sustainable industrialization across the developing world.

The fund was launched at the IsDB group’s Annual General Meeting in Tunisia. Speaking at the event H.E. Dr. Bandar Hajjar, President of the Islamic Development Bank said: “The Islamic Development Bank understands that people living in the developing world need more than just grant funding. They need sustainable solutions to help them build their own way out of poverty. At the same time, we do need to offer access to the resources they need to realize their goals and change the world. That is why we have launched Transform. We know that real financial support in the science and technology sectors is needed in order to drive inclusive and sustainable development. Transform will ensure our members have access to a vital flow of financing facilities to help finance innovative ideas linked to real development solutions.”

In addition the IsDB has also established two high level boards that constitute the world’s leading scientists, thinkers and policy makers who will provide counsel and expertise to ensure the fund is able to achieve its ultimate development objective.

The IsDB Scientific Advisory Board includes ten leading scientists including Prof. Zakri Abdul Hamid, Science Advisor to the Prime Minister of Malaysia and Abdallah Daar, Professor of Public Health Sciences and of Surgery, University of Toronto. They will provide guidance in setting the Bank’s Science, Technology and Innovation strategy and will review applications for funding.

Moreover a Board of Trustees that constitutes dignitaries like Dr. Bandar Hajjar, President of the Islamic Development Bank Group and Mr. Mehmet Simsek, Deputy Prime Minister of Turkey among others has been set up to ensure that the fund works to accelerate economic and social progress in the developing world through the power of science, technology and innovation.

The launch event featured a host of prominent leaders including Dr. Hayat Sindi, Scientific Advisor to the IsDB and member of the UN Scientific Advisory Board. He said: “The projects supported by the Transform Fund will greatly benefit local communities in our member countries, as well as Muslim communities in non-member countries. We know that science and technology are critical enablers of every Sustainable Development Goal, which is why we are focusing so much of our attention on innovative partnerships built around science and tech-led solutions. Through Engage and the Transform Fund, we look to foster collaboration from all around the world to help ensure that everyone has the right to live in dignity and with access to basic human needs.”

Applicants who are interested in securing seed money for their startups or SMEs are invited to submit their business proposals by July 31, 2018.

References:

https://www.isdb-pilot.org/

https://aa.com.tr/en/economy/islamic-bank-idb-officially-launches-500m-science-fund/1107046

https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/the-islamic-development-bank-launches-500m-innovation-fund-to-fuel-economic-growth-in-developing-world-678838373.html

https://www.isdb-engage.org/en/challenge/call-for-innovation-via-transform-fund

Team members Muhammad Dawood, Ushma Farooq, Hassan Raza, Hassnain Qasim, Ayesha Khan and Babar Nawaz were awarded a Silver medal at an award ceremony that was held at the Hynes Convention Center in Boston.

The global iGEM contest based on synthetic biology is a five-day event featuring oral presentations, poster presentations, workshops and social events.

This year’s participants were encouraged to design projects in the environmental/social context. The iGEM Peshawar team developed a “Reporter Fish” that is genetically engineered to detect mental contamination in water. The fish will change its color once it comes into contact with water contaminated with heavy metals or other pollutants – an indication that the waterbody is too polluted to support a population of fish for human consumption. The team self-engineered the genetic circuits for the said characteristic and tested its viability in bacterial cells. The project also featured a sensor system that alarms farmers through a text message upon detection of contaminated water.

Today, polluted seafood is a serious environmental issue. It contains an increasing level of contaminants that are causing serious health problems. The iGEM Peshawar students believe that this technology can be used by fish farmers to combat the problem of unhealthy fish and provide produce which is safe for human consumption.

iGEM is a global event that has been running for over a decade. It encourages students to solve some of the world’s most serious problems by building genetically engineered biological systems. The Pakistani cohort competed with over 90 teams whose projects were featured at the event – it also had over 3,000 synthetic biologists.  Speaking about the experience Omer Zeb from Swabi said: “Being the only electrical engineer in the team working with the undergrad biologists of Pakistan was a good experience.” Another member of the team, Hassan Raza, from Faisalabad said the project would help in combating a pressing environmental issue – water pollution.

‘I am super proud of the team who put in a lot of effort to win us a Silver medal this time. A lot of thanks to the Government of KP and CECOS university for the sponsorship and the all-out support throughout the competition this year, said Dr. Faisal Khan team supervisor and the director of the Institute of Integrative Biosciences at CECOS University. ‘We hope our industry will join hands with us in IGEM 2018 like all other teams here from different countries’, he added.

This is the second time a Pakistani team has participated and won in this competition. Previously, the Pakistani team was awarded a bronze medal for devising a BioSensor that recorded carbon monoxide and nitrogen oxide levels being eliminated from vehicle exhausts.

Sources:

https://tribune.com.pk/story/1557867/1-pakistani-team-bag-silver-medal-igem-2017/

http://iib.cecos.edu.pk/igem-peshawar-17-wins-silver/

https://www.pakistankakhudahafiz.com/pakistani-biology-students-bag-bronze-medal-igem-world-championship/

Nanotechnology, a field that attracts billions of dollars of research funding and thousands of scientists and engineers, has been hailed as the technology of the 21st century. With its revolutionary approach to problem solving by challenging the limits of engineering at smaller than micro-level, it gives us access to a hitherto untapped resource, the building blocks of matter themselves. It captures the imagination and affords us the luxury to dream of solutions to contemporary problems facing the human race such as acute diseases, the energy crisis, the food security,  and the scarcity of clean water.

How does Nanotechnology work?

The ‘Nano’ technology works through the manipulation of matter at the size and on a scale no bigger than 100 nanometers, quite literally atom-by-atom. When imagining the molecular construction of any object it is clear that atoms at the surface are but a small fraction of the entire collection . Through miniaturization, however, the ratio of surface to bulk atoms goes up. This allows the material that is being manipulated to exhibit new, sometimes novel and unique properties, as the surface atoms begin to exhibit a more dominant character within the overall scheme of things. Through rigorous scientific discovery and exploration, nanomaterials have improved the mechanical, electrical, optical, and chemical performance of many industry staples.

Wonder World of Nanotechnology

Fascinating examples of nanomaterials discovered thus far include: fiber stronger than spider web; metal that is hundredfold stronger than steel; plastics that conduct electricity; silicon that glows, catalysts that respond more quickly; coatings that are nearly frictionless, materials that change color and become transparent on demand. The impetus of funding nanotechnology is the exploitation of nano-materials as building blocks for manufacturing better products that are lighter, stronger and cheaper (at minimum cost) and with new functions that have applications in health, agriculture, energy, information, defense and security, providing jobs, economic growth and improvement in that standard of living.

These applications range from the mundane – nano engineered particles can make vinyl floors tough enough to last a lifetime – to the extraordinary – the biomedical applications speed drugs through the human circulatory system and improve diagnostics and treatment. Other applications are futuristic, such as nano-sized robots programmed to take care of our material needs.

The importance of nanotechnology is highlighted by the billions of dollars that are invested worldwide and by a projected market size of $1 trillion in the next 10 years. Western countries have established national initiatives outlining R & D and commercialization policy. Asian countries have since followed suit and some countries in the Muslim World have entered the race.

Nanotech hits Commercialization problems

While the promise of nanotechnology has been immense, it has hit a snag when it comes to commercialization. Fifteen years after the US Government launched its National Nanotechnology Initiative, nanotechnology in the hands of all and sundry has remained an illusive dream. While some household products with small applications of nanotechnology have been developed, it is yet to deliver a game changing application that is  both cutting edge and available to all those who need it, such as smart anticancer therapeutics that can destroy tumors, or lighter and thinner body armor to save the lives of soldiers. This has dampened the enthusiasm for nanotechnology. Indeed commercial targets have lagged behind.

The problem is not financial or managerial, rather one of fundamental mass production and safety. Nanotechnology as of today suffers from several basic problems that delay large-scale commercialization. The challenges include the ability to:

•    Create nano-materials with precision, control and repeatability, and  do so in a timely manner
•    Maintain a competitive price and a scale of production that meets consumer demand,
•    Remain conscious of safety and environmental sustainability.

Increasingly, governments – particularly in the United States which is both the largest spender and the biggest commercial market for technology products – are seeking to catalyse commercialization.

Early efforts on nanotechnology in the Muslim World
Generally, there is lack of significant presence of Muslim representation in nanotechnology. The majority of the countries are into the phase of mere fact-finding, and holding conferences. However, there are a few Muslim countries including Saudi Arabia, Iran, Turkey, Egypt, and Malaysia that recently instated concerted initiatives to build knowledge-based economies as well as champion nanotechnology.

King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology (KACST) launched a national nanotechnology initiative and established a national center in 2005 just six years after the US’s initiative, which was followed by more initiatives by the King and the government to establish nanotech centers across the country. Iran entered the field as early as 2003, when it established a special committee under the direct supervision of the President to develop nanotechnology, which resulted in 40 nano companies. Iran ranks number 1 in the entire Muslim World and number 32 worldwide in nanotechnology development.

By 2008 Egypt, in collaboration with IBM, opened its first nanotech center. Turkey developed its national research facility and center of excellence in nanotechnology as early as 2006-2007 at Bilkent University. Malaysia introduced the NanoMalaysia Centers of Excellence in 2011, as well as NanoFund and Nano Malaysia Berhad (NMB), as the lead driver for the industry. The allocated resources are sizable, yet they fall short of the scale developed nations allocate. We believe time is of the essence since increasing market-based barriers, such as patents, and moderate or limited participation of Muslim countries may promote greater global technological divides.
Having fallen behind Muslim  countries need to play catch-up. However, they are still within striking distance. Difficulties can be alleviated by the adoption of integrated, aggressive processes of transfer, absorption, and re-innovation. The process can be accelerated if the Muslim World can pool resources or adopt an ‘Open Innovation’ approach to advance commercialization challenges.   Focusing on commercialization shall also pave way for greater government interest and bring resources to the table. Once it is clear that the development of nanotechnology can advance the broader national development agendas, the governments may rally behind this technology of great national importance.

Last word on Commercialisation
It is not sufficient to adopt aggressive national policies as the catch-up process proves to be inherently complex, incremental, and costly. What we need to quickly narrow the gap are strategies and mechanisms with potential to lead to significant breakthroughs.
Countries in the Muslim World must either focus on being an  innovator (i.e. the first to develop or patent an idea) or a  product pioneer (i.e. the first to have a working model). They must also constantly balance between the strategy of being either ‘First Movers’ or Fast Followers – each with its own strengths and weaknesses..
We believe, the Fast Follower model strategy is more suited for developing countries, especially when dealing with a technology that is new and targeting a world market where it is difficult to understand (i) the business model, (ii) the customer’s problems and (iii) the features needed to solve those problems. First Movers tend to launch without fully understanding customer preferences or the product features that meet the consumer’s more specific demands. They end-up being very susceptible to burning through their invested cash. Fast followers win more often because they learn from the first-mover problems.

Having said all, one fact remains true: Muslim countries cannot afford to stay as spectators any more, watching another technological revolution leave them behind.

Prof. Munir Nayfeh is a Palestinian American scientist working at the University of Illinois at Urbana Champagne. He is also one of our 14 most exciting nano-technologists in Muslim World. 

Iran is civilisation that is several thousand years old. Some believe that what was once Persia was the cradle of civilisation. Many of early contributions of Muslim Scientists originating out of the House of Wisdom in Baghdad were inspired by the works of now forgotten. Persian scholars and philosophers. Legend has it that a substantial part of Greek science and philosophy was also influenced by Persian scholars by virtue of their impact on Aristotle as he passed through Persia along with the army of Alexander the Great.

If all this were to be true, and it probably is, today’s science in technology is in debt of thousand of years of tradition of scholarship of unknown Persian scholars and philosophers.

In recent past, Persia (now Iran) has been through a difficult period in their history. An impasse with United States and the West has left them isolated in the World and hence falling somewhat behind in the realm of science, technology, and innovation, though this isolation has also had the effect of inspiring Iranians to not depend on the West and develop an indigenous capability in science and technology.

Despite the Western Sanctions, Iran has a fairly decent educational system that continuously produces some highly talented and hardworking people – particularly scientists and engineers for the social-system somehow favors STEM careers – that are not only capable of carrying out some quality science at home but are also in great demand abroad (see article on Sharif University of Technology).

Iran’s scientific, technological, innovative, and recently entrepreneurial capabilities are some of most well-kept secrets in the World. The following infographic illustrates some the key features of the Iranian STI eco-system.

(Click here to download the high resolution version of this infographic)

Infograhic by: Rimsha Ali Shah and Hifza Sajjad

Legend has it that that the seeds of what we know today as the Silicon Valley were laid at the Stanford University and the Stanford University Industrial Park when a Stanford Professor Frederick Terman who loaned a thousand dollars to two of his students – William Hewlett and David Packard – who ended up creating Hewlett and Packard Company. (1) Then came Fairchild Electronics and the rest is history.

Ever since, the Silicon Valley has been a part and parcel of the folklore of entrepreneurship, technology, and innovation. Governments and locations, from both developed and developing world, have tried to create Silicon Valley clones and the results have been rather mixed. Yet the dream of creating a technology cluster lives on, sometimes in the most unlikely-est of the places.

The world’s best kept secret

The newest aspirants to this global trend is none other than Tehran, the capital of Iran – a country that can easily be described the ‘world’s best kept secret’. Dr. Fereidoun Ghasemzadeh, CEO of Afranet and a professor of management and economics at Sharif University, recently described Iran as ‘the largest unconquered market in the world.’ (2) Not only is it home to potential immense wealth – the second largest discovered oil reserves after Saudi Arabia and the second largest gas reserves after Russia – but also a large and multi-talented population of over 130 million people.

With the promise that easily pales many of its neighbours, Iran is only undermined by its the traditional and archaic socio-economic structures, large (and inefficient) government, the oil-based economy and the dampening of economic incentive to venture that it creates, a lack of maturity of the market economy, and crippling sanctions by the West.

The latter has been both a challenge for entrepreneurs and businessmen since it significantly enhances the cost of doing business in Iran. But it also creates an opportunity for it has shielded them from intense international competition thus allowing them to develop basic technical capabilities. Though sometimes, if not always, only to be hampered again in the efforts to capitalize on this opportunity because of restricted market opportunities.

Entrepreneurs: people are the key

Nevertheless, Iran’s entrepreneurs are brimming with talent and energy to make a difference for their country and, in the process, money for themselves. They also feel that there is a narrow window of opportunity to use technology to transform Iranian society and this ultimately shall open doors to many more possibilities. Several demographic statistics are worth noting here:

40% of the Iran’s population – around 80 million people – are between the ages of 20-40 years. This generation of baby boomers – the generation that was born after the Revolution and the Iran-Iraq war – is both young and restless and pushing for rapid changes within the society.

60% of the university graduates are women. 40% of the students study engineering at the bachelors level, though up to 40% of university graduates are unemployed. This makes for perfect conditions for an entrepreneurship revolution in Iran. And there are already signs that this is beginning to happen. Many of these young people will, in the process, create the future for Iran, and for the World.

Three frontiers for Iranian entrepreneurs

A number of ‘me-too’ startups have used internationally successful business models to fill particular gaps within the local eco-system. Whether these are group buying (Khafifian.com), online ecommerce (Digikala.com), crowdfunding (Hamijoo.com), online video sharing (apparat.com), or online food delivery (mamanpaz.ir), these startups have begun to target gaps in local socio-economic structures as a starting point for a transformation that has to come. (3)

In doing so, they have avoided falling into the trap of expecting the government to catch-up. Techcrunch, the technology industry website, has called Iran the ‘latest country the internet economy is emerging in.” (4) There are also signs that the German Rocket Internet model is beginning to take hold in Iran. (5) This has been, and rightly so, the first frontier in Iran’s quest to use technology within its society.

The second frontier – something that many entrepreneurs have been silently pushing at for several years – is where technology meets the traditional sectors such as transportation, healthcare, logistics, and the like. Here, there are still considerable challenges because of the considerable inertia within the country’s socio-economic infrastructure. This will require going beyond the ‘me-too’ products to create solutions that will address typical Iranian problems.

Here, the government can use its procurement power to make a difference to create market opportunities for the entrepreneurs. But, like most other governments in the developing world, fall short of doing so. One could find entrepreneurs with decent products who would have readily found government support in another (developed) country complaining that there is no market for them within Iran.

The final frontier for Iranian entrepreneurs shall be to target global markets from Iran. There are riches to be had in selling to the world and there is no reason that why creative and entrepreneurial Iranians can’t have a fair share of the pie. However, doing so will require not the removal of Western sanctions – just leveling the playing field for them but also exposing Iranian entrepreneurs to global competition.

While there are some examples such as Parsa Ghaffari’s Artificial Intelligence Startup Ayelien, among others, creating the next Facebook, Google, Microsoft, WhatsApp, or the like does not often happen in a vacuum. It is no accident that a vast majority of these billion dollar companies were created in the free and laissez faire United States rather than the much more regulated Europe, Asia, or a developing country. While exceptions can happen, creating a system of innovation and venturing that repeatedly delivers shall require more than just luck and raw talent.

Incubators –>  Science Parks –> Accelerators –> VCs

Some help is on the way. In recent years, there has been a lot of focus on creating the necessary ingredients of an innovation and startup eco-system. Here is the government seems to have taken the first step.

Just over 20 years ago, the proposal to set up the country’s first technology incubator and science park was put forth before the Governor of the Isfahan Province and this evolved into the Isfahan Science and Technology Town (ISTT). Over the years, Iranians, through government involvement at various levels, have created 34 science and technology parks and more than 150 incubators. These investments, though managed in a semi-private sector fashion, laid the foundations of an emerging entrepreneurial culture within Iran.

Emboldened, the private sector is now jumping in the fray, particular when it comes to information technology startups. Plans are afoot to create Iran’s first private sector STPs. This shall not be encumbered by regulations and restrictions that hamper the usual public sector STPs and will be driven by incentives and flexibility of a true private sector player.

While there was hardly a startup eco-system in Iran in the early 2000s, since 2010-12 it has seen an explosive growth. More than 35 Startup Weekend events have been organized thus far (5). Recently, there have been a number of accelerators and semi-formal incubators that have come in.

Accelerators include DMOND Group (a brand of Plug & Play) and Avatech, though there are several other private sector initiatives in the works. Avatech is most well-known and it recently organized its demo day with 6-8 companies presenting their products. There is considerable angel and VC interest in some of these emerging startups.

Private ambitions, public aspirations

While these exciting developments represent the passion and ambition of private individuals seeking to make a killing at the frontiers of science, technology, and innovation in Iran, there is also patriotism and sense of being at the forefront of history being created for this nation of 130 million people. Young Iranian entrepreneurs believe it is in their grasp to fundamentally change Iran’s standing in the world by showing the tremendous raw talent and energy that this country embodies.

The Government is not very far behind in this for they too have public aspirations – of fully integrating with the rest of the world and – of using the immense power of technology to solve Iran’s (and the World’s) problems, most notably youth unemployment but also increasingly address the country’s economic competitiveness and its transition from an oil-based to a knowledge-based economy.

It is evident from the ongoing negotiations between Iran and P5+1 that Iranians and their Government want the crippling sanctions to be lifted and for Iranians to play a role – according to their weight – in the global eco-system through creation of new technology and knowledge. Many countries of the West, particularly, China and Europe are equally eager to embrace Iran when such a break through happens for they are dazzled and charmed by the raw talent and potential of this 5000+ year old civilization.

One indicator of this was organization of the iBridges Conference in Berlin where Iranians from around the world descended to have a fundamental conversation among themselves and with others from the around world about the opportunity that this country represents.

Perhaps this is a sign of things to come. Parsa Ghaffari, an Iranian Entrepreneur described the excitement in the following words:

“Iranians are, just like Israelis, very entrepreneurial. They don’t really like to work for a big company for 30 years. So I think that’s why this whole concept [of startups] became so popular so quickly in Iran.” (5)

If words had between the lines meanings, this sentence would say a lot about how Iranians see themselves and the future potential.

Iran is ready to take on the challenge of technology. Whether the world is willing, yet, to take a step forward is another story.

References:

1) http://www.netvalley.com/silicon_valley/Fred_Terman_Father_of_Silicon_Valley.html

2) Speech at iBridges Berlin Conference available at: http://www.ibridges.org/conference-2015

3) http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2015/may/31/amazon-iranian-style-digikala-other-startups-aparat-hamijoo-takhfifan

4) http://techcrunch.com/2014/09/02/the-next-tech-startup-ecosystem-to-emerge-iran/

5) http://www.geektime.com/2015/05/26/the-persian-dream-an-in-depth-look-at-the-iranian-startup-scene/

Last January, localhost/muslim recognized the Top-20 Most Influential Women in Science in the Islamic World. This year, we recognize the achievements of Women who made ground breaking discoveries, broke glass ceilings, and won international honours last year. 3 of these 5 five women were honoraries last year as well and they went on to achieve great things this last year. Here are their stories:

Maryam Mirzakhani: Breaking the Glass Ceiling

On August 13, Maryam Mirzakhani, a professor of mathematics at Stanford University, was awarded the 2014 Fields Medal at the International Congress of Mathematicians, held in Seoul, South Korea. Dubbed as the ‘Nobel Prize of Mathematics,’ the Fields Medal was established in 1936 and is given once every four years. Mirzakhani is the first woman ever to win the prize.

Mirzakhani was awarded the Fields Medal for her original contributions to the fields of dynamical systems and geometry. Dynamics is the abstract study of change and motion over time. It is the mathematics, for instance, that governs the motion of planets that experience each other’s gravitational force, which is simple and described by the Newton’s Laws developed in the 17^th Century but also more complex phenomenon that happens when a third (and fourth) body is introduced in the system.

The genius of Mirzakhani’s work lies in addressing these and more complex challenges, as described by Jordan Ellenberg, a professor of mathematics at University of Wisconsin:

“Among other things, she studies billiards. But now, in a move very characteristic of modern mathematics, it gets kind of meta: She considers not just one billiard table, but the universe of all possible billiard tables. And the kind of dynamics she studies doesn’t directly concern the motion of the billiards on the table, but instead a transformation of the billiard table itself, which is changing its shape in a rule-governed way; if you like, the table itself moves like a strange planet around the universe of all possible tables.”

Such ‘transformation’ allows for an understanding of the symmetry of curved surfaces, such as spheres or doughnuts. Mirzakhani’s research is bold – it lies in the realm of pure mathematics which, nevertheless, has implications on the questions relating to the origin of universe, physics, and quantum field theory.

Mirzakhani was born and raised in Tehran towards the end of the drawn-out Iraq-Iran war. Initially interested in writing and reading novels, Mirzakhani developed a fascination with mathematics, landing her as the first female member of the Iran’s International Mathematical Olympiad team at the age of 17. She won the gold medal in her first year, and returned the next year to win another gold medal by achieving a perfect score. Encouraged by her strong teachers, she went on to pursue her undergraduate education in mathematics at the Sharif University in Tehran.

Once at Harvard for her graduate work, Mirzakhani was mentored by Curtis McMullen – a recipient of Fields Medal in 1998 – as her doctoral advisor. The fascination with hyperbolic surfaces, which would culminate in a Fields Medal for Mirzakhani, started in the informal seminars of McMullen, exemplifying the deep influence her advisor exerted over her academic ambitions. Describing his influence as ‘huge,’ Mirzakhani humbly wishes that she should have ‘learned more from him.’

Married to a Czech theoretical Computer Scientist and mother to a 3-year old daughter, Mirzakhani defines her journey from the streets of Tehran to the ceremony in Seoul, as one of tenacity and curiosity.

Ameenah Gurib-Fakim: The Daughter of the Soil

Dr. Ameenah Gurib-Fakim has recently been at the center of exciting new developments in the small island state of Mauritius where she was the Presidential Candidate of an opposition political party that won the recently held General Elections. While the Elections do not directly concern the position of the President of the Republic, in due course, Ameenah may – if she takes over this position – become the first woman scientist to ever become the President of a country.

Dr. Ameenah Gurib-Fakim has earned distinction by studying plant life in this one of the world’s most important biodiversity spots. Her fascination with science started in her high school; under the guidance of dynamic teachers in high school. She went to the United Kingdom where she did her undergraduate degree from the University of Surrey followed by a doctorate in Chemistry from the University of Exeter, UK. Instead of applying her research talents abroad, Dr. Gurib-Fakim chose to return to her home to take up a lectureship in Organic Chemistry at the University of Mauritius. Describing her decision to return, Dr. Gurib-Fakim explains:

“After my PhD, I was all set to do a postdoc in the US but chose instead to return to Mauritius where I applied my research training in synthetic organic chemistry to a completely new area: Phytochemistry. This migration was vital because I could be productive academically within one of the world’s unique hotspots of biodiversity.”

In 2004, Dr. Gurib-Fakim was appointed as the Dean to the Faculty of Science at the University of Mauritius. The period of 2006-2010 saw Dr. Gurib-Fakim as the Pro-Vice Chancellor for the Teaching and Learning at the University of Mauritius. Today, Dr. Gurib-Fakim spends her time fulfilling the responsibilities of Managing Director of the CEPHYR, which is a Centre for Phytotherapy Research and development. The Centre carries out studies on the rich plant life of the region – which has implications in fields as diverse as cosmetics, nutrition, pharmaceutics, and therapy.

Dr. Gurib-Fakim was the co-author of first of its kind African Herbal Pharmacopoeia – the first edition was released in 2010. It consists of comprehensive botanical, commercial and phytochemical information on over fifty of the most important African medicinal plants.

Her research has resulted in co-authorship of more than twenty books, and nearly 80 articles in her field. Moreover, she has led projects for global organizations such as the United Nations, World Bank, and the European Union. Dr. Gurib-Fakim has received many national and international honors including being appointed Commander of the Order Star and Key of the Indian Ocean, the highest honor of Mauritius, in 2008 and became a Knight of the Order of Academic Palms in 2009.

In 2014, Dr. Gurib-Fakim also spoke at TED where her talk focused on the vital role of medicinal plants and the likely loss to the planet of the extinction of certain relatively less known plant varieties only found in her home island of Mauritius.

To watch the video, please click here.

Anita Zaidi: Giving Back to the Community

In December 2013, a Pakistani pediatrician, Dr. Anita Zaidi, won the $1 million Caplow Children’s Prize from amongst 550+ entries including from major organizations such as Doctors Without Borders. The purpose of the competition was to find innovative and cost-effective ways to reduce early child mortality rates.

The Caplow Prize was given to transform Rehri Goth – a small fishing town on the outskirts of Karachi, Pakistan, where 11 children out of 100 don’t survive past the age of five and one woman out of every six living in the area has lost at least one child.

Dr. Zaidi plans to “change people’s [attitude] towards planning for delivery [of babies], [secure a] transport emergency fund, [provide] nutrition support to expectant women, vaccines, and also impart an 18-month training to five women at AKU’s School of Nursing and Midwifery.”

In 1988, Dr. Zaidi graduated as the member of the first graduating class from the Aga Khan University in Karachi, Pakistan and later spent a year in the Pakistan’s Northern Areas (now Gilgit-Baltistan) doing community outreach and service. Dr. Zaidi describes her time in the region as “the year [when] I learnt the most about Pakistan and the problems children living in impoverished environments [face].” After a year, Dr. Anita Zaidi moved to the United States to receive instruction in paediatrics, microbiology, infectious diseases and epidemiology at Duke University and Harvard University.

After a decade in the US, Dr. Zaidi decided to leave her faculty position at Harvard to join her alma matter – Aga Khan University. In 2010, she became the head of the paediatrics department. Reflecting on her decision to move back to Pakistan, Dr. Zaidi argues that it was motivated by the desire to give back to the society – “when you have been given so much by your nation, you have the responsibility to give back.”

Dr. Zaidi’s research at the Aga Khan University has been focused on improving the diagnostic methods and tools for detecting infectious agents in children, on neonatal infections in hospital and home-born babies and the characterization of childhood pathogens.

Pardis Sabeti: The Rockstar Scientist

Dr. Sabeti headed a team of researchers in 2014 who used advanced genomic sequencing technology to identify “a single point of infection from an animal reservoir to a human in the current Ebola outbreak in West Africa.” In addition, the research also revealed the dynamics of the human-to-human transmission of Ebola virus and the mutations in the genetic code of the virus as it adapts to its human hosts.

The discovery came through an extensive analysis of the genetic makeup of Ebola samples of survivors living in the affected regions. The strain responsible for the largest outbreak of Ebola was identified as a closely-related strain found in Central Africa in 2004. It demonstrates the movement of the strain from Central to West Africa over a decade. Further, it identified a series of mutations that arose as the outbreak spread – some of it alter the biological state of the virus, which is helpful to continually evolve to adapt to human immune systems. This highlights the need for continuous monitoring of the changes in the virus, and may lead to improved diagnostic methods and vaccines.

Dr. Sabeti is a computational biologist, medical geneticist, and evolutionary geneticist and an associate professor in the Center for Systems Biology and Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology at Harvard University. Dr. Sabeti is also on the faculty of the Center for Communicable Disease Dynamics at the Harvard School of Public Health, and is a senior associate member at the Broad Institute.

Pardis Sabeti was born in Tehran, Iran in 1975. Following the Iranian Revolution, the family moved to Florida. Dr. Sabeti received her undergraduate education at MIT where she graduated with a Bachelor of Science studying biology, and where she was the class president as well as being on the team of varsity tennis. As a Rhodes Scholar, she went to Oxford University in the United Kingdom to study human genetic resistance to malaria, completing her doctorate in evolutionary genetics in 2002. In 2006, she graduated summa cum laude from the Harvard Medical School with a Doctor of Medicine.

In her spare time, Dr. Sabeti is the lead vocalist and bass player for the Indie rock band Thousand Days, which received an honorable mention by the Billboard World Song Competition. The group’s fourth album has been delayed due to Dr. Sabeti’s work on the Ebola outbreak.

Hayat Al Sindi: The STEM  Role Model

In 2014, Dr. Hayat Al Sindi was recognized by US Department of State as among the Women in Science Hall of Fame for Middle East and North Africa. Moreover, in the annual meeting of the Clinton Global Initiative in September 2014, Dr. Sindi was awarded the ‘Leadership in Civil Society’ prize.

The first Gulf woman to receive a doctorate in biotechnology from Cambridge University, Dr. Sindi’s story is one of defeating the odds. As a teen, she left Mekkah to study in England – fearing that her father may not allow otherwise, Dr. Sindi convinced her father that she’d already been accepted into a prestigious university in England. When she got to the United Kingdom, she had no university place and didn’t speak a word of English. Through persistence, she landed herself a place in the King’s College, Cambridge. Following her PhD from Cambridge, she taught at the International School of Medicine. As a visiting scholar at Harvard in 2007, Dr. Sindi was part of the team that founded Diagnostics for All– a non-profit organization dedicated to creating innovative, inexpensive, point-of-care diagnostics tools for people in underdeveloped areas. Dr. Sindi has developed a diagnostic tool for early detection of breast cancer as well as the Magnetic Acoustic Resonance Sensor (MARS), which combines light and sound for use in biotechnology.

Dr. Sindi’s work earned a spot with four other scientists in a documentary supported by the Executive Office of the President of the United States aimed at promoting science education among young audiences. In addition, Dr. Sindi won the Mekkah Al Mukaramah prize for scientific innovation in 2010 – the prize was awarded by the HRH Prince Khalid bin Faisal. National Geographic named her as the Emerging Explorer in 2011.

UNESCO has appointed Dr. Sindi as the UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador for her work in promoting science education, in particular among girls, in the Middle East. In the same year, Newsweek named her as one of the 150 women who shook the world. Dr. Sindi continued to break new ground by becoming a part of the first group of women to serve in the Saudi Arabia’s Consultative Council.

With such a distinguished career, Dr. Hayat Sindi is one of the most illuminating role models for countless young female students of science in the Middle East.

Entrepreneurship can be a lonely, dark place. For Pakistani tech entrepreneurs, that seems to be literally true (what with power shortage amounting to 12 hours a day sometimes). Pitted against this lack of funds, mentorship, and resources, is Punjab Information Technology Board’s Plan9 – Pakistan’s first national tech incubator.

Power shortage alone begs the question whether a technology incubator can be successful in a Pakistani environment. Besides, can we count on technology to solve our local problems?

PITB Chairman Dr. Umar Saif, certainly thinks so. “Technology is reshaping the world. Tech startups are solving global problems locally,” he says. And how does he regard Plan9’s role in this ecosystem? “Plan9 is contributing towards an ecosystem whose aim is to promote tech entrepreneurship in Pakistan. It is playing a pivotal role in providing a platform for aspiring entrepreneurs who often have to succumb in the face of hardships due to lack of resources and opportunities.” Dr. Saif is hopeful that Plan9 will bridge the gap between academia, industry and the government through technology.

Plan9 Core Team

While Plan9 is not Pakistan’s first technology incubator, it is certainly so far the most consistent and visible one and the first national initiative of its kind. Launched in 2012, Plan9 was awarded a grant of 180 million rupees by the Punjab government to realize its aim: which is to provide an environment conducive to entrepreneurship and business development in Pakistan.

Each cycle, entrepreneurs are invited to apply as an incubatee. After filling an online application, teams are shortlisted to present their business ideas at a Launchpad. A Launchpad is a three day event held at Lahore, Karachi and Islamabad, for the selection of teams for incubation at Plan9.  A board of advisors, including PITB Chairman Dr. Umar Saif, PASHA President Jehan Ara, Google Pakistan Country Consultant Badar Khushnood, among others, rates and shortlists applicants on the merit of their ideas and their potential as a tech startup.

An incubation cycle is six months long. Successful applicants are provided free office space, laptops and the chance to work in an environment with uninterrupted power supply and internet access. A team can include anywhere between 2 to 5 members. Each team member of the incubated team is also granted a monthly stipend of Rs 20,000 for financial assistance for the entirety of their incubation cycle.

Through various workshops, trainings and mentorship sessions, the Plan9 team helps each project focus on the attainability of its goal. In a short time Plan9 has developed a large network of mentors who help train and mentor incubated teams. Among them are names such as Hussein Kanji, Partner at Hoxton Ventures; Saad Khan, Partner at CMEA Capital; Naeem Zamindar, CEO Wateen; Jazib Zahir, CEO Tintash; and Fadi Bishara, Founder Blackbox. Encouraging an environment conducive to innovative thinking, these mentors allocate their time to develop and shape the understanding of incubated teams through their sessions.

Angel Investors Club

All incubated startups have the opportunity to pitch their business/product ideas to Plan9 Angel Investors Club. The Angels Investors Club is comprised of investors who are hopeful of advancing technological developments in Pakistan. The club comprises of visionaries such as Syed Babar Ali; PITB Chairman, Dr. Umar Saif; CEO Sofizar, Zafar Khan; CEO Angels Den, Bill Morrow; and Thal Industries Director Farah Khan among others. To date the club has invested 500,000 USD in various startups incubated at Plan9.

How has this innovative approach, to realizing Pakistan’s entrepreneurial spirit, proved to be fruitful? For one, this relatively young incubator has become a beacon of hope for young entrepreneurs all over the country. More importantly, within the short span that it has been functioning, several Plan9 incubatees have successfully launched their projects for both Android and Apple devices, such as Groopic, Technolsys, and Locpro. Additionally, the mobile app helpline, Appography has been selected for the BlackBox 2014 Spring Program in Silicon Valley. Apart from announcing a Fellowship program, which invites individuals to intern with Plan9 and its incubated teams, Plan9 has also recently opened its offices for freelance developers, thereby providing a viable space for freelancers to co-work and engage in meaningful conversations.

Among Plan9’s most successful incubated companies, are names like Eyedeus Labs, Hometown, Kickstoro, Technolsys Labs, MyBizPakistan and Appography. What sets these startups apart from most? “Passion, team strength and focus”, says Plan9 Marketing and PR Manager, Hafsa Shorish. “Each incubatee is given similar resources to work with. Those who bring commitment and passion to their work have a greater chance to succeed. If a team is in sync with its visions and goals, it will go far.”

Eyedeus Labs is one such success story. Groopic, their first product, was launched in 2013 and has become a favourite with many. Groopic allows users to take photographs which also includes the photographer. Hometown is another success story to come out of Plan9 incubation. With the aim to bridge the gap between local craftsmen and consumers, Hometown offers exquisite handcrafted leather shoes to consumers.

Plan9 has clearly set an example for other aspiring incubators to follow a successful model. However, Plan9’s success has limitations as well. Government support – both organizational and financial – has played a very critical role in the establishment and sustainability of Plan9. And while the results achieved by incubatees are impressive, they have largely been non-financial and it is not clear if a private-sector entity can sustain this level of support without a direct financial outcome associated with it.

With the establishment of Plan 9 as an innovative working space for young entrepreneurs, it is hoped that more incubation centers are opened in other parts of Pakistan, in order to engage the youth. More than anything, Plan 9 ensures that tech entrepreneurship is no longer a lonely, dark place, rather, a lively hub of the nation’s brightest minds.

Our list encompasses 20 Remarkable Women who have performed amazing feats during the course of their careers. These pertain to all five main regions of the Islamic World, namely, South East Asia, South and Central Asia, Gulf and Persia, Maghreb and North Africa, and North America and Europe and across at least 6 disciplines.

The list is divided into 3 Eras of Major Influence. These are:

The Pioneers (4 Scientists) – Period: Pre-1980 to 2000+

The Shapers (8 Scientists) – Period: 2000-2020+

The Emerging Champions (8 Scientists) – Period: 2020-2040+

Those on our list have been selected after a careful evaluation of relative achievements and accomplishments of these individuals. We have excluded some truly remarkable Royal Champions of Science in the Islamic World and attempted to focus on ordinary women who balance life with career and do justice to both.

Look out for individual profiles and achievements of these Women of Substance starting tomorrow. Join our facebook page (/localhost/muslim) and twitter (@MuslimScience) to learn more about these amazing women.

The names of Women on this list is:

The Pioneers

1.  Dr. Sameera Moussa – The Atoms for Peace Champion, Egypt

2.  Prof. Nesreen Ghaddar, FIAS (‘07) – The Shaper of Energy Future, Kuwait and Lebanon

3. Professor Bina Shaheen Siddiqui, Fellow–TWAS (‘89) – The Plants Scientist, Pakistan

4. Professor Samira Ibrahim Islam – The Drug Safety Advocate, Saudi Arabia

The Shapers

5.  Prof. Rabia Hussain, FIAS (‘08) – The Infectious Diseases Specialist, Pakistan

6.  Prof. Khatijah Mohd Yusoff, FIAS (‘08) – The Viralogist, Malaysia

7. Dr Ismahane Elouafi – The Food Safety Champion, Morocco and Canada

8.  Prof. Ilham Al Qaradawi – The Physicist, Qatar

9. Dr. Sania Nishtar – The Policywonk, Pakistan

10. Prof. Dr Nuket Yetis – The Science Administrator, Turkey

11. Dr. Hessa Al Jaber – The Policymaker, Qatar

12. Ameenah Gurib-Fakim, FIAS (‘09) – The Herbalist, Mauritius

The Emerging Champions

13. Dr. Hina Chaudhry – The Cardiac Magician, Pakistan and United States

14.  Dr. Hayat Al Sindi – The Innovator, Saudi Arabia

15.  Dr. Maryam Matar – The Humanitarian, United Arab Emirates

16. Professor Adeeba Kamarulzaman – The Taboo Buster, Malaysia

17. Maryam Mirzakhani – The Esoteric Mathematician, Iran

18. Dr. Ghada Amer  – The Power Woman, Egypt

19.   Dr. Rana Dajani  – The Islamic – Feminist, Jordan

20. Dr. Rim Al Turkamani – The Accidental Historian, Syria and United Kingdom

Dr. Rana Dajani obtained a Ph.D. in molecular biology from the University of Iowa, USA; a Fulbright alumnus, she is currently Assistant Professor and Former Director of the Center of Studies at the Hashemite University, Jordan. Her research focuses on genome-wide association studies concerning diabetes and cancer in ethnic populations in Jordan. Other research includes signaling transduction, stem cells, and bioinformatics.

She is a strong advocate of the theory of biological evolution and of its compatibility with Islam. On the broader horizon, Dr. Dajani has developed a community-based model and philosophy, “We Love Reading (WLR)”, to encourage children to read for pleasure for which she received the Synergos award for Arab world social innovators in 2009, membership of the Clinton Global Initiative 2010, and a place in the upcoming book Innovation in Education: Lessons from Pioneers Around the World, funded by Qatar Foundation.

In her article “How women scientists fare in the Arab world,” published in Nature in November 2012, Dr. Dajani argues that true equality for women scientists requires recognition of their family roles as well. She feels that due to family commitments, women are unable to network, hence resulting in a reduction of the number of opportunities, due to a lack of mentoring and networking. For this reason, she feels that mentoring projects are required in the Arab world so as to support women in distilling both their personal and professional duties.

While harping on the importance of science education for women, Dr. Dajani talks about the role of the Arab Spring in promoting education, in her article, “The Arab Spring offers hope but no quick fix,” published in Nature in September 2011. She feels that though such revolutions in Libya and elsewhere have opened pathways for the advancement of science in the Arab world, yet there is a long way to go before science education can truly flourish in this part of the world. Indeed, her emphasis on the promotion of education is immense and her philosophy entails that education in the Arab world must equip students with more than just textbook learning, as mentioned in her article, “Universities must inspire students as well as teach,” published in the October 2013 issue of Nature.

In this exclusive interview with localhost/muslim, she dives deep into her belief, convictions, and experience as a woman scientist working in the Muslim World towards promoting greater role of women in science to come up with a passionate rebuttal of a systematic bias against women in the profession:

localhost/muslim (MSC): Why, in your opinion, are women generally discouraged and/or criticized for studying science and/or pursuing a career in science?

Ra’na Dajani (RD): To my knowledge and from my experience, this trend of discouraging women to study or pursue a career in science, in dying out. The reason for past discouragement of women to study science, was based on the preconception, that women should study something useful for their future lives, which most of the time is limited to the home. If what they study was not related to their future, it was considered a loss of time and money. Women were not part of the work force, so there were no career options.

When the economy made it essential that the women workforce was needed, the concept then became to work for money and not for pursuing a career or a dream.  Women were encouraged to study, so that they could provide an income for their families as life was getting increasingly expensive, or otherwise, in the case of being unmarried or divorced, the woman could survive on her own without any form of dependency. Yet another viewpoint is, that many believe women work not out of pursuing a dream or being ambitious, but because it is better than merely sitting at home. This concept is alien but is worth studying.

The times of the Islamic civilization saw a boom in Muslim women working in the intellectual arena as, there are over 8000 Women scholars as documented. So what is the issue? The issue is not ‘fewer’ females in science, the issue really is the ‘less’ education for females in general.  Choosing science or humanities is not the issue either.  In reality, the issue is  not only how men perceive women, but how women perceive themselves. Why is this important you may ask? It is important because if the mothers respect the image of women, then only will they bring up the next generation to view women in the same light.

Another issue that may often come up, is how a working female may be able to strike a balance with her family life. Her motherhood role is considered the most important in the Islamic and Arab world and I agree with that.  The west has imposed a view of belittling/undermining the role of a mother.  It should be counted as part of the GDP of a country.  This skewed view has been imported into our culture, resulting in chaos and dissatisfaction.  The solution lies in looking at the issue through our lens. In order to do that, we need social scientists from our part of the world to research. Unfortunately, we don’t have any.  All our smart scholars are in basic science, medicine and engineering.  What we don’t understand, is that both parts of the brain are needed, to weave the fabric of society.

MSC: When you were opting for science in your studies and/or your career, did you receive criticism from your support system (family, friends, relatives etc)? Please describe your experience.

RD: I was encouraged to study science and to pursue it as a career because my father was a physician and my mother was also highly educated and lived in the West. We are actually eight sisters, all of who pursued a career in science, except one, who obtained a Masters in theology. They are highly devoted Islamic people and there was never a conflict between Islam and studying science.  The issue was how to strike a balance between career and family life, which is a world related issue and not particular to the Islamic world, as we have made it out to be.

Most importantly, however, is the support I received from my husband. We had four children when we decided to go as a family to the US, for me to finish my PhD. My husband left a successful career in the Air Force and the whole family moved. Later, as I progressed in my career, evermore the mentor, he was seminal to my success as a scientist and entrepreneur. I believe for a women to succeed in her career as a scientist, she needs a partner who believes in the importance of her work and her potential to make a difference. They both work together to be change makers in the community, sharing responsibilities in a compatible and complementary fashion. In this way, he becomes a role model for other males in the community.

In the community I live and teach as a professor, families are adamant to get their girls into medicine, science etc. as opposed to humanities.  However, I see a reversal of trends in Jordan at least, and I would say the Arab world in general, where all our intelligent high achieving females, and for that matter males, go into sciences and engineering, rather than humanities. This is worth researching, so as to learn the thesis behind it, in an effort that, other communities can learn from this inquiry and develop a strategy for encouraging women to pursue science.  Based on statistics, the percentage of females in sciences is over 60% at universities in Jordan (article in Nature).

I believe the issue is more complex than we think.  One important thing to keep in mind is, that we are adopting the Western perspective, view and history, in analyzing the issue of science.  I believe this approach is flawed and biased, right from the beginning.

The concern is that you have low numbers of females in higher academic positions, but this has its reasons for example, we don’t have PhD programs in the Arab world so a woman has to travel abroad to get a PhD and this has its challenges (living alone for a long period, money etc).

MSC: When a women opts to pursue a career in science, many professional organizations assume a biased behavior and tend to favor men over women in their hiring process. What is your opinion in this regard?

RD: My opinion is when you are good, you are good. Period. No one will hire a male who is less capable, than a woman.  It is how you look at it.  One should think neutral and explain things in a neutral way.

You will be surprised to know, that in the Arab world, females are considered to be more hardworking than men as well as higher achievers. The recent study that came out in PNAS, divulged that scientists favored males over females.  I believe that the case in the Arab world is different and worth studying.

The Islamic and Arab worlds have bias in laws and so on, only because these laws were drawn/imported from Western organizations. Hence, you can very well see where the bias is coming from.

In a gist, the whole Islamic and Arab society’s view point of women is contaminated by Western philosophy, whether we like to admit or not.

MSC: The media rarely puts women scientists in the spotlight. Any recommendations to change these practices, as well as the society’s attitude in general, towards women being in science?

RD: Yet again, we witness the seepage of a western attitude. If we look towards Islam, we see that this is non existent. Actually it was never an issue until the West made it an issue, because they are biased.  As I mentioned earlier there were 8000 Women scholars during Islamic history.  These are the ones documented, so we can just about imagine how many were not.

What we have from our history is simply, what the West put on a pedestal. The Western culture is biased against women and thus will not acknowledge them in their own culture, so why should they acknowledge them in our culture/history? We don’t know our history because either we don’t have sufficient historians or we don’t make an effort to read through available material. A primary reason for this is that the majority of our intellectuals , have historically belonged to the fields of engineering and medicine. In addition, history is written by winners and the winners for the past few hundred years were all those pertaining to the West.  We are falling into the trap of blind conformity, were the West is leading us according to their views and perspective, whilst creating problems for us that don’t exist and suggesting solutions that don’t work.  These subtle differences are there and are very obvious to the uninitiated and naïve.  Jane Fonda on her visit to the Arab world, said that she was surprised on the confidence exerted by Arab women and realized that our problems were different from Western women.  The Western woman has to work on herself from the inside, while the Arab woman has to work on herself from the outside.  Actually, this is an example (of how women are viewed), of many issues that the West has imposed upon other cultures it has colonized, not solely limited to the Arab muslim world, but also the Indian culture and several others. This is worth researching as well.

MSC: Do you think the Muslim female community has any ‘Muslim female scientist’ role models to look up to? Who and why?

RD: Yes they do, both in history and modern times. It is just that we don’t celebrate role models in general, unless they are singers and movie stars and are celebrated in such ways. This is a global phenomenon that should be addressed.

In Jordan, I organized the ‘first women network in academia meeting’, under the auspices of the Hashemite University and the Jordan TEMPUS office on Nov 19, 2013.  We invited the first female university president and minister of higher education, as well as a scientist senator, vice president of another university, an academic business woman, an academic parliament member and the director for a research center.  We have started our first activity which is a pilot mentoring project.

References

• Dajani, R Evolution and Islam’s Quantum Question Zygon vol. 47 no. 2 page 343-353 June 2012
• Dajani R World view: The Arab spring offers hope but no quick fix Nature. 2011 Aug   31;477(7362):7
• Dajani, R World View: How women scientists fare in the Arab world Nature. 2012 Nov 1;491:9
• Dajani R “Universities must inspire students as well as teach” Nature 2013   Oct 24;502(7472):411
• Al-Muhaddithat by  Mohammad Akram Nadwi

Websites

• http://muslimheritage.com/
• http://www.wisemuslimwomen.org/
• http://www.irtiqa-blog.com/2011/05/muslim-women-scientists-today.html
• http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/25/magazine/25wwlnEssay.t.html
• http://www.asmasociety.org/religion/women.html
• http://www.patheos.com/blogs/mmw/2012/02/on-female-not-feminist-scholars-reviewing-al-muhaddithat/