New Delhi, (Samajweekly) Dedicating her Pravasi Bharatiya Samman award to the students of India, senior CERN scientist Archana Sharma said her Indian roots and upbringing has helped her serve the world as one family.
Sharma, is among the 27 recipients of Pravasi Bharatiya Samman awards that will be conferred by President Droupadi Murmu during the 17th Pravasi Bharatiya Divas Convention from January 8 to 10 in Indore this year.
“I feel humbled that the government and people of India thought of me so kindly,” Sharma, who has been working at the European Organization for Nuclear Research, known as CERN, for more than 30 years now, said in a statement.
“In my work as a scientist, I have served the world, the world as one single entity, as a family — Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam, knowing no boundaries, a philosophy so much rooted in my cultural upbringing in India and my Indian philosophical makeup.”
Sharma first came to CERN from Jhansi to participate in a workshop in 1987 and ever since she has been instrumental in building one of the most sensitive detectors — the Muon detectors — critical for the search of the origin of the universe.
She was part of the team that discovered the elementary particle Higgs Boson in 2012 and is globally recognised for her work on gaseous detectors for research in High Energy Physics.
After India became a member state of the CERN in 2017, Sharma has been guiding Indian interns there apart from coordinating collaborations.
“I dedicate this award to the students of India, with confidence that the cradle of science would be carried dedicatedly forward, not only for India, but for the world,” Sharma wrote in her statement.
According to Sharma, a total of 130 Indians are registered at CERN.
In a Twitter post, she described the recognition as a “humbling moment”.
“I’m deeply honored to be awarded the Pravasi Bharatiya Samman, an exciting yet humbling moment. Thanks to those who’re part of my journey for the tremendous support you have extended, most importantly, thank you India!” Sharma tweeted.
Following a graduate degree in Nuclear Physics from BHU Varanasi, Sharma received her Particle Physics PhD from Delhi University in 1989, followed by an “Instrumentation for High Energy Physics” D Sc from the University of Geneva in 1996.
