Rajaâ Cherkaoui El Moursli facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Rajaâ Cherkaoui El Moursli
|
|
|---|---|
| Born | 12 May 1954 Salé, Morocco
|
| Nationality | Moroccan |
| Occupation | Physicist, academic |
Rajaâ Cherkaoui El Moursli (born 12 May 1954) is a Moroccan professor. She teaches nuclear physics at Mohammad V University in Rabat. She won the L'Oréal-UNESCO Awards for Women in Science for her work. This work helped prove the existence of the Higgs Boson.
Contents
Early Life and Education
Rajaâ Cherkaoui El Moursli was born in Salé, Morocco, in 1954. She first studied mathematics at Lycée Descartes in Rabat. It was a big step for a girl from Morocco to study further. She had to talk to her father to get his permission.
She says that Neil Armstrong's moon landing inspired her. Also, a high school teacher encouraged her to follow science. She then went to Grenoble, France, to study. There, she earned her doctorate in physics. This was at the Joseph Fourier University. In 1982, she came back to Rabat, Morocco.
Discovering the Higgs Boson
In 2015, Rajaâ Cherkaoui El Moursli received a special award. It was the L'Oréal-UNESCO Awards for Women in Science. This award is given to women scientists from Africa and Arab countries. She won it for her important work on the Higgs Boson.
The Higgs Boson is a tiny particle. Scientists believe it helps explain why other particles have mass. Mass is what gives things weight and makes them solid. Her work helped prove that this particle really exists. This was a huge discovery in physics!
Helping Science and Healthcare
Professor El Moursli has done a lot for science in Morocco. She has helped improve scientific research in her country. She also made a big difference in healthcare.
She started the first master's degree program in medical physics in Morocco. Medical physics uses physics to help with medicine. For example, it helps with X-rays and other medical imaging. This program helps train new experts in this field.
Dave Charlton is a spokesperson for ATLAS. ATLAS is a big experiment at CERN where the Higgs Boson was found. He congratulated her on her award. He said, "ATLAS congratulates Professor Rajaâ Cherkaoui El Moursli for this prestigious award. We recognize her part in the discovery of the Higgs boson."
See also
In Spanish: Rajaâ Cherkaoui El Moursli para niños
