USTHB English Speakers Magazine USTHB English Speakers Magazine 1st Edition | Page 11

I think that we need a vision for
research that takes into account
the needs of the country and the
state and role of science and
technology in today’s world. Thanks
to tremendous progress in science
and technology, the world is
changing at a faster pace than it
ever has. Think of communications,
health, security (including cyber),
agriculture, transport, manufacturing
and you will realize that science and
technology impact us everyday. The
growing gap between developed
and emerging countries and the
rest of the world is in part due to the
ability of a society to be an active
member of the global science and
technology community.
In Algeria, or anywhere else in the
world, universities, researcher centers
and other laboratories need to adapt
to new realities. Today, information
and knowledge are no longer
deliverable only in the classroom,
andsolution to major problems is not
likely to be found by a researcher
working independently of her/his
colleagues within and outside of the
same institution. Research in Algeria
needs to offer value to people,
humans,and contribute significantly
the economic development of our
country. I believe that this can be
achieved if we can work together
to bridge the gap betweenvarious
disciplines,
industries,
and
government offices, if we can
remove the barriers that researchers
face, and accept the fact that
research is a global endeavor. It is
in a multidisciplinary approach that
major discoveries can be made and
innovative solutions to major problems
can be developed. Once we agree
on a clear vision, we can develop
priorities, goals and objectives, and
evaluation, impact and sustainability
plans.We can inspire our young minds
and get them ready to be engaged
to investigate major scientific issues. I
do realize that this is easier said than
done but in my view it is worth the
effort. Algeria’s prosperity depends
more than ever before on our ability
to prepare our youth to contribute to
the development of a strong research
and innovation base connected
through multi avenues to the rest of
world.
5-So many people are wondering
about and seeking for more
information about “Curiosity” and its
impact on your research program in
optics, can you please explain to us,
what is it all about?
A lot of information about Curiosity is
available. There are hundreds of peer-
reviewed papers on the discoveries
that Curiosity has made. Today we
know the planet Mars a lot more than
we did before Curiosity landed on it.
Briefly speaking, thanks to Curiosity we
know that all the elements necessary
for life as we know it exist on Mars,
including water. In terms of my
research in this area, it has evolved
with the mission. I contribute to the
analysis of laser induced breakdown
spectra collected by one of the ten
instruments on board of the Curiosity:
the Chemistry Camera or ChemCam.
More recently, my research group
is also developing various models
that allow us to predict the spectra
that we can expect from a laser
ablation measurement Mars. This is
a contribution to the current NASA
mission and the next one due to
be launched in 2020. The impact
of this research on my own work is
significant.Working with colleagues
on the mission, I have learned new
ways to look at atomic and molecular
data in complex environments, which
led me to propose new approaches
for the detection of early signs of
cancer. I love connecting what is
not obvious. In my view, Curiosity is
contributing not only to the search
for life on Mars but also to the fight
on cancer! It certainly does in my
research laboratory.
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