Noida: Shania, a Class XII student, believed nothing good could come out of the large hadron collider (LHC), a machine that generates antimatter by colliding high-energy particles (antimatter is a mirror image of matter but with an opposite electrical charge that no longer exists in the universe). But that was before she met CERN scientist Archana Sharma.Shania’s views on antimatter, formed from popular ideas in books such as ‘Angels and Demons’, in which antimatter is on the verge of destroying the world, changed when Sharma told her that technology from LHC experiments will be used to improve cancer treatments by employing proton beams which target cancerous cells without causing harm to normal cells.Sharma, the only Indian scientist involved in the discovery of the Higgs Boson particle in 2012, was speaking at a conclave that sought to encourage students to pursue science.The conclave was organised by Shiv Nadar School, Noida, and an NGO called Life Lab Foundation (with which Sharma has a tie-up). Life Lab shares the latest scientific information with students, knowledge that is not part of school curricula “In every student, there is an Einstein. I believe there is no end to the capacity of a human brain,” Sharma told the young men and women . “Every student has the capacity to achieve. It is a matter of igniting minds so that students can unleash their potential.” And all students, she maintained, will look for the best possible environment to study, whether it is in India or abroad.Sharma, who obtained a graduate degree in Nuclear Physics from BHU and a PhD in particle physics from Delhi University, felt that science and R&D will be better embraced as career options if the quality of science outreach programmes improves. “The difference in foreign countries is that industries work hand in hand with researchers – for a project like the large hadron collider, a billion dollars was needed to make the prototype itself, and industries were set up to facilitate that. Those (industries) later took a life of their own,” she explained.Science also needs to be portrayed as something of value to society. And for that, the government, Sharma insisted, must get involved. “In the US or the UK, not only do governments allot more budget for science but they also allot similar budgets for outreach programmes. In India, politicians are not very engaged with science and hence, are failing to facilitate research. They need to keep track of which projects are getting funding, what the returns are, and which projects need investment. The government needs to set a mission and have milestones.”Further, institutes and universities need to support women who strive to make their mark in science. This means enabling their return to academia. “In schools in India, girls outperform boys but when they move to universities and further down the line, that changes because by the time a woman begins her career, she is either getting married or having a child or has other responsibilities. But this issue has been well-recognised abroad, and in Europe and the US institutes facilitate career breaks. Women scientists, although they are very few in number, are recognised and facilitated.”Referencing Fabiola Gianotti, the first woman to become the CERN director general, Sharma said, “Women role models are coming up now which gives hope to other girls that they can do physics as well. But research as such does not sound attractive to many, and one goes for engineering or other well-paying jobs under parental and peer pressure.”So, what kept her motivated to study physics? “My teachers were amazing, especially at BHU, and they imparted the knowledge of what is out there and what you could achieve by learning and doing things by yourself,” shared Sharma.

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