A Beacon of Science for Tunisia

ICTP Associate Mourad Zghal has joined the ranks of the world's most prominent optics scientists: he has been named a Fellow of SPIE, the international society for optics and photonics. SPIE Fellows have made significant scientific and technical contributions in optics, photonics, optoelectronics and imaging, and have performed notable service to the community.

The SPIE honour represents an important milestone for Zghal, who has worked tirelessly to promote optics and photonics in his home country, Tunisia, and broadly throughout Africa. A professor at the Engineering School of Communication of Tunis, University of Carthage, Zghal co-founded the Optical Society of Tunisia in 2002, and later established student chapters of SPIE and the Optical Society (OSA) there. He also founded the African Laser Center, an organization based in South Africa that encourages the exchange of researchers and students across Africa. He sees Tunisia, a country perched on the Northern tip of Africa, as an important bridge between the African continent and Europe, connecting scientists from north and south.

Tunisia and its neighbouring Arab countries comprise an area of historical importance for groundbreaking science. It was here, during the Islamic Golden Age, that scholars developed trigonometry and made advances in optics and astronomy.

Today Tunisia faces multiple challenges as it recovers from political turmoil that set off a wave of unrest throughout the Arab world. Before its 2011 revolution, Tunisia's spending on research and development had been steadily climbing since 2000, according to UNESCO's Science Report, and it was the leading Arab country in research and development efforts. Zghal feels optimistic about science in his country in spite of the recent turmoil. The country's approval of a new constitution has paved the way for stability, he explains, and support for science is back on track. "The level of scientists is good, and in most African countries the education is not bad," he says.

Zghal humbly attributes his own success to hard work, a good mentor, and opportunities. He obtained his degree in communication engineering from the Engineering School of Communication in 1995, and went on to receive an MSc and PhD degrees in electrical engineering from the National Engineering School of Tunis in 1996 and 2000, respectively. His mentor, Zohra Ben Lakhdar, herself an ICTP Associate and recipient of the prestigious 2005 L'Oreal-UNESCO award for Women in Science, was a professor of his and inspired him to pursue research in optics.

"Zohra's role in my career--and indeed in Tunisian science--has been very important. She has created a new dynamic for the whole African continent, and I try to follow in her footsteps," he says.

Ben Lakhdar also became Zghal's link to ICTP, and he soon found himself in Trieste attending his first ICTP activity, a 1997 workshop on telecommunications. Now he is a regular participant of the Centre's annual winter colleges on optics. In 2008, Zghal won the ICO/ICTP Gallieno Denardo Award for his original work in the development of numerical modeling techniques for photonic crystal fibers, microstructured optical fibers, and polarization. The award recognizes a researcher under 40 years of age from a developing country who has made significant contributions to the field of optics.

Zghal's face brightens when he talks about the opportunities afforded to him over the years by his association with ICTP, opportunities that are rare in Tunisia. As an ICTP Associate he is entitled to a number of cost-free trips to the Centre, although he admits that he has not been able to take full advantage of the scheme because of commitments to students at his home institute. He has carried out research at Trieste's Elettra Sincrotrone thanks to ICTP's strong ties with that institute, and was able to extend that opportunity to a student of his through ICTP's Sandwich Training Education Programme.

"When researchers from developing countries arrive at ICTP there are huge possibilities waiting for them, from meeting renowned scientists to hearing about the latest advancements," says Zghal. There are also helpful services, Zghal points out, such as the Centre's electronic journal delivery service (eJDS), which gives developing-world scientists free access to many of the world's top science journals, easing the isolation faced by scientists working in places that lack the resources to support such access.

Zghal modestly suggests that scientists like him and Ben Lakhdar can serve as examples for others in developing countries who face similar challenges, and also as unofficial ambassadors promoting the type of opportunities available at ICTP. If one is realistic and hard-working, honours such as a SPIE Fellow are within one's grasp, says Zghal, adding encouragingly, "If someone else did it, so can you."