Mirjana Pović

Mirjana Pović (born 8 August 1981) is a Serbian astrophysicist who works on galaxy formation and evolution at the Ethiopian Space Science and Technology Institute. She was the inaugural laureate of the Nature - Estée Lauder Inspiring Science Award.

Mirjana Pović
Born8 August 1981
Alma materUniversity of Belgrade
Durham University
University of La Laguna
Scientific career
InstitutionsUniversity of KwaZulu-Natal
Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía
Ethiopian Space Science and Technology Institute
ThesisEstudio de la población de núcleos activos de galaxias en cartografiados profundos (2010)

Early life and education

Pović was born in Pančevo, Serbia.[1] She was only nine years old when the war in Serbia began.[2] She became interested in astronomy as a child, and hitchhiked to attend her classes.[3][4][5] She studied physics at the University of Belgrade, where she was awarded a full scholarship and earned her degree in 2005.[1] She was awarded a summer scholarship to study astrophysics at Durham University in 2004.[1] She earned her doctoral degree at the University of La Laguna, working with the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC).[6] For her doctorate she used the XMM-Newton and Chandra X-ray Observatories. Pović defended her thesis on active galactic nuclei in 2010.[7] During her PhD she volunteered in Tanzania and Kenya, and became "amazed by Africa's beauty and diversity".[8] She was a postdoctoral fellow at the University of KwaZulu-Natal in 2010, before returning to the Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía in 2011. She became involved with the African Network for Astronomy School Education in 2012.[1] She began to volunteer with the Granada Association for Human Rights of Andalusia in 2012, specialising in prostitution and immigration.[9]

Research and career

Pović works on the formation and evolution of galaxies.[10][11] To study these galaxies, Pović uses planetary surveys such as the Advanced Large Homogeneous Area Medium-Band Redshift Astronomical (ALHAMBRA).[12] She investigates the star formation rate and mass-metallicity.[13] She is an affiliated researcher at the Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía. Pović joined the Association of Women Researchers and Technologists in 2013.[1]

In 2016 Pović joined the Entoto Observatory and Research Centre in Ethiopia. She believes that astronomy and space science will be important for Africa to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals.[14][15] She has been involved with the Ethiopian Space Science and Technology Institute (ESSTI) since it was established.[14] She is a Professor of Physics and Head of the Department of Astronomy.[16] She was responsible for training the first generation of postgraduate astronomy students in astronomy, including Ethiopia, Tanzania, Rwanda and Uganda.[16] There are over 100 members of staff, but only 5 with doctorates.[2] She is the only woman and only European member of the team.[17][18]

That year she began to coordinate the African countries program of the Network for Astronomy School Education in 2016.[1] She has taught physics across Africa, including in to orphans in Rwanda and HIV-positive people in Tanzania.[5][19] She believes that scientists should spend more time connecting to the developing world.[20] She leads science clubs and lecture series for secondary-school girls in Ethiopia.[8]

Pović was awarded the 2019 Nature Research - Estée Lauder Inspiring Science Award.[19][21][22][23][24][25][26] She has said she will use the €10,000 award money to build networks between women scientists in Ethiopia.[8][22] She is a member of the International Astronomical Union.[15]

References

  1. "Mirjana Pović". AMIT (in Spanish). 2016-11-22. Retrieved 2019-03-27.
  2. Rubio, Isabel (2019-01-21). "La astrofísica que lucha para que las niñas africanas también puedan ser científicas". El País (in Spanish). ISSN 1134-6582. Retrieved 2019-03-27.
  3. LilianR (2019-01-22). "Mirjana Pović, Enseñándole a las Niñas Africanas a ser Científicas". 365 Días de Valentía Moral (in European Spanish). Retrieved 2019-03-27.
  4. "Mirjana Povic, astrophysicienne et militante auprès des Africaines" (in French). 2019-02-03. Retrieved 2019-03-27.
  5. "How this Serbian astrophysicist is supporting African efforts to promote STEM". Women's Media Centre. Retrieved 2019-03-27.
  6. Africa, Space in (2018-10-31). "ESSTI Mirjana Pović wins Nature Research Awards for Inspiring Science". Space in Africa. Retrieved 2019-03-27.
  7. "Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias - IAC - Educational Outreach". www.iac.es. Retrieved 2019-03-27.
  8. Dance, Amber (2018-10-30). "Meet the space researcher smoothing the path for women in science across Africa". Nature. 563 (7729): 148. Bibcode:2018Natur.563..148D. doi:10.1038/d41586-018-07198-z. PMID 30377330.
  9. "MIRJANA POVIC: "Asociaciones como APDHA son imprescindibles para que haya una constante vigilancia sobre cómo se tratan los derechos de distintos colectivos"". APDHA - Asociación Pro Derechos Humanos de Andalucía (in European Spanish). 2015-02-10. Retrieved 2019-03-27.
  10. Fundación Descubre (2015-03-12), Ciclo Lucas Lara (IAA-CSIC). ¿Por qué nos importa la forma de las galaxias? Febrero 2015., retrieved 2019-03-27
  11. Väisänen, Petri; Nyiransengiyumva, Beatrice; Nkundabakura, Pheneas; Pović, Mirjana; Mahoro, Antoine (2019-05-01). "Star formation in far-IR AGN and non-AGN galaxies in the green valley – II. Morphological analysis". Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. 485 (1): 452–463. arXiv:1902.02969. Bibcode:2019MNRAS.485..452M. doi:10.1093/mnras/stz434. ISSN 0035-8711. S2CID 119190876.
  12. Quintana, J. M.; Prada, F.; Pović, M.; Perea, J.; Moles, M.; Masegosa, J.; Márquez, I.; Infante, L.; Husillos, C. (2014-06-21). "The ALHAMBRA survey: evolution of galaxy clustering since z ~ 1". Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. 441 (2): 1783–1801. arXiv:1311.3280. Bibcode:2014MNRAS.441.1783A. doi:10.1093/mnras/stu681. ISSN 0035-8711. S2CID 53850253.
  13. Sánchez-Portal, M.; Pović, M.; Lorenzo, M. Fernández; Castañeda, H.; Ederoclite, A.; García, A. M. Pérez; Bongiovanni, A.; Cepa, J.; Lara-López, M. A. (2010-10-01). "A fundamental plane for field star-forming galaxies". Astronomy & Astrophysics. 521: L53. arXiv:1005.0509. Bibcode:2010A&A...521L..53L. doi:10.1051/0004-6361/201014803. ISSN 0004-6361. S2CID 59034095.
  14. Yilma, Abdissa; Walwa, Tefera; Simpemba, Prospery C.; Saad, Somaya; Okere, Bonaventure; Nkundabakura, Pheneas; Nemaungani, Takalani; Mimouni, Jamal; McBride, Vanessa (2018). "Development in astronomy and space science in Africa". Nature Astronomy. 2 (7): 507–510. arXiv:1807.01722. Bibcode:2018NatAs...2..507P. doi:10.1038/s41550-018-0525-x. ISSN 2397-3366. S2CID 117314404.
  15. "International Astronomical Union | IAU". www.iau.org. Retrieved 2019-03-27.
  16. "Mirjana Pović, premio Nature Research Awards, "Quiero motivar a las niñas para que hagan ciencia en África"". www.oei.es. Retrieved 2019-03-27.
  17. "Mirjana Povic, astrophysicist and activist with African women | tellerreport.com". www.tellerreport.com. Retrieved 2019-03-27.
  18. "Astrophysics that fights so that African girls can also be scientific | Science". Spain's News. 2019-01-21. Retrieved 2019-03-27.
  19. "Estée Lauder Honors Female Scientists". HAPPI. Retrieved 2019-03-27.
  20. Woolston, Chris (2018-12-19). "Seven steps to boost your research career in 2019". Nature. 564 (7736): 449–450. Bibcode:2018Natur.564..449W. doi:10.1038/d41586-018-07807-x. PMID 30568204.
  21. Nature Research (2018-09-04), Shortlisted for the Inspiring Science Award: Mirjana Pović, retrieved 2019-03-27
  22. Thorpe, J. R. "These 10 Women In STEM Are Making History Right Now". Bustle. Retrieved 2019-03-27.
  23. "Congratulations Dr. Mirjana Povic!". www.eo.org.et. Retrieved 2019-03-27.
  24. "How Do You Help A Student Like Maria?". Further my Future. Retrieved 2019-03-27.
  25. "Mirjana Pović, first laureate of the Inspiring Science Award by Nature and The Estée Lauder Companies – European Platform of Women Scientists EPWS". 23 January 2019. Retrieved 2019-03-27.
  26. Ermyas (2018-11-02). "Congratulations Dr. Mirjana Povic!". ESSTI. Retrieved 2019-03-27.
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