The Pride of the Uighur People

The recent recognition in Urumqi, China, of a former ICTP Diploma student is proof that even in the most remote regions of the world, ICTP's influence can be felt.

Sayipjamal Dulat, who studied high energy physics during the 1995-96 Diploma Programme academic year, was honoured in August 2012 by the mayor of Urumqi at a ceremony recognizing outstanding Uighur scholars.

On completion of ICTP's programme, Dulat went on to earn a PhD from Bonn University in Germany, followed by a postdoctoral position at the Chinese Academy of Sciences' Institute of High Energy Physics in Beijing. Since 2004, she has been teaching and researching at Xinjiang University in Urumqi.

Dulat's PhD supervisor, Professor Chao-Zheng Zha, attended the ceremony and spoke of Dulat's career highlights. Amongst her achievements, Dulat has solved the problem (and provided rigorous proof) of the classification of unitary conformal field theories with central charge c=2 and N=2 superconformal theories with c=3. She also proved that the Ahanorov-Casher effect and the scalar Ahanorov-Bohm effect are global electrodynamics effects, providing a unified scenery for global electrodynamics effects.

In addition, Dulat has a successful publishing track record in the world's top physics journals.

"Sayipjamal's acquisition of her present achievements did not come easily," said Zha. "Growing up from a common student to become an outstanding theoretical physicist involved over twenty years of efforts.  Two decades may seem a long duration, but it is also a short one. According to a Chinese proverb, it takes ten years to nurture a tree, but one hundred years to nurture a talent." 

Zha added, "Sayipjamal is the pride of the Uighur people."

Zha has a connection to ICTP as well: in addition to visiting the Centre on several occasions, he was a friend of ICTP founder Abdus Salam and accompanied him during his first visit to China in the 1980s.