Author: Luc Bergé

Hatice Altug is professor in the Institute of Bioengineering at Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Switzerland since 2013. She is also director of EPFL Doctoral School in Photonics. Between 2007 and 2013, she was professor in the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department at Boston University, U.S. She received her Ph.D. degree in Applied Physics from Stanford University (U.S.) in 2007 and her B.S. degree in Physics from Bilkent University (Turkey) in 2000.

At EPFL, she is heading the Bionanophotonic Systems Laboratory with around 15 talented graduate students and postdocs from around the world. Her research is focused in the field of nanophotonics and its application to biosensing, spectroscopy and bioimaging with the aim to introduce nanodevices with significant importance for fundamental life sciences, early disease diagnostics, and point-of‐care testing. Her laboratory is specialized to exploit novel optical phenomena at nanoscale and metamaterials by using nanophotonics, nanofabrication and microfluidics.

Prof. Altug is the recipient of the EPS Emmy Noether Distinction, Adolph Lomb Medal from The Optical Society (OSA), and the U.S. Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers. She received a Consolidator Grant from the European Research Council (ERC), an ERC Proof of Concept Grant, the U.S. Office of Naval Research Young Investigator Award, U.S. National Science Foundation CAREER Award, Massachusetts Life Science Center New Investigator Award and the IEEE Photonics Society Young Investigator Award. She is the winner of the Inventors’ Challenge competition of Silicon Valley in 2005. She has been named to Popular Science Magazine’s "Brilliant 10" list in 2011.

Luc Bergé, President-Elect of the EPS and chair of the EPS Equal Opportunities Committee (LB), interviewed Hatice Altug (HA).

LB: Why did you choose to study physics?

HA: Since my early years in middle school I got fascinated with science subjects and encouraged by my physics teachers. I was getting curious about the scientific origin of the things that I was observing in nature, technological inventions and how machines work. In order to satisfy my curiosity and get a better understanding of science I decided to major in physics. I also knew that physics is a fundamental subject and if I studied physics I would be well equipped to get into different scientific fields more easily.

LB: Any worry to match your family life and a career in physics?

HA: Yes, it is not always easy to balance a family life and a career in physics. For example, travelling is important for a scientific career in order to attend or organize conferences, participate in consortium projects, committees or visit other universities. But, travelling also requires time and sometimes I find it challenging to accommodate it with family duties.

LB: Were you worried about finding a job in physics?

HA: There are different job options for a physicist including in academia, industry and education. I was aware that finding an academic job was more challenging than in industry due to the limited available positions. Academy is a competitive environment, irrespective of the gender, and, I knew that to get a good position it was necessary to produce high quality work which required consistent dedication and perseverance during my graduated studies. Rather than being worried I focused on my research to achieve my goals. Examples of successful graduates around me who made their ways to a faculty position gave me further confidence that I could also make it.

LB: What has been the personally most rewarding experience so far in your career and also the biggest difficulty encountered so far in your career?

HA: From my PhD times I still remember the excitement and joy I had when my experiments finally worked after many trials and failures. I also remember the happy feeling after my first scientific paper got accepted in a peer-reviewed journal. I live through the same joy and happiness with each of my PhD students every time they experience such milestones. One of the most rewarding aspects of my career is to be part of their academic journey and guide them to succeed. Currently, the main difficulty is managing the time. As you progress in career you tend to get more responsibilities, expectations, and obligations to fulfill and it gets harder to manage all of these at your best with limited time.

LB: Did you encounter any difficulty in finding funding for PhD or a post-doc position related to the fact that you are a woman?

HA: I did not feel that I was discriminated negatively in finding funding because of my gender.

LB: Any suggestion to guarantee a balanced gender representation in physics?

HA: Due to the leaky pipeline few women choose to climb in the career ladder in physics, and science in general. Young girls are interested in math and science at the start but they choose to drop it later. As one of the factors, associating the stereotypical scientist images with men cannot resonate well with young women. In this regard having more successful women physicists could serve as role models and inspire them to continue in physics. Family balance is also an important factor in the leaky pipeline and institutions should give more family support (child care, career breaks etc) to young women so that they do not give up their career.

LB: Any particular advice for a young aspiring researcher?

HA: Choose a research topic that you are most passionate about and work on a problem that you believe you can make a difference. This will give you the power, self-motivation and confidence to succeed. Also, keep your spirit of newcomer always alive as it helps to improve yourself continuously by learning new things.

LB: Do you have any female ‘physicist cult figure’ or ‘role model’?

HA: While I was in high school Marie Skłodowska Curie has been the female physicist cult figure for me. Once I started university, I got to learn other female scientists like Emmy Noether, Maria Goeppert Mayer, Ada Lovelace, Chien-Shiung Wu. At the same time, it is easier to take someone as a role model from your closer surrounding and get connected with. In my undergrad years I was the only woman in my class and there were no female professors in the physics department to look up to as an example. Still, I was fortunate to be supported by my advisors and professors irrespective of their gender and used my energy to focus on science. On a positive side, during my PhD years and also later in my career I encountered amazingly successful female scientists who continue to inspire me.

Prof. Dr. Hatice Altug