Mirjana Pović
Born8 August 1981
Pančevo
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)

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.

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. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Mirjana Pović". AMIT (in Spanish). 2016-11-22. Retrieved 2019-03-27.
  2. 1 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. 1 2 "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. 1 2 3 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. 1 2 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. 1 2 "International Astronomical Union | IAU". www.iau.org. Retrieved 2019-03-27.
  16. 1 2 "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. 1 2 "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. 1 2 Thorpe, J. R. (20 March 2019). "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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