The second episode in the series “Science is Our Common Language” is dedicated to Imrana Ashraf Zahid, an associate professor at Quaid-i-Azam University (QAU) in Islamabad, Pakistan, specialised in atom, quantum and classical optics. The series celebrates the 60th anniversary of ICTP's Associates Programme.
Imrana was the first Pakistani woman to obtain a PhD in Quantum Optics. She has been a Senior ICTP Associate since 2019.
Over the past 35 years Imrana has developed very strong links with ICTP, which she first visited when she was still a student. She then returned to the Centre on several occasions, as an associate, but also as a tutor, as a fellow of the ICTP Training and Research in Italian Laboratories (TRIL) programme and, since 2007, as a lecturer at the Winter College on Optics, which ICTP has been organising regularly. In 2004, Imrana received the ICO/ICTP Gallieno Denaro Award for her significant scientific contributions to the field of optics and photonics. Her exemplary dedication to mentoring students and young researchers and her tireless action to promote the education of young women earned her the 2017 Spirit of Salam Award. In 2022 Imrana also received the Diversity & Inclusion Advocacy Recognition Award from Optica.
Imrana is also very engaged within the optics community: she is a senior member of Optica, the leading society in optics and photonics, a member of SPIE, the International society for optics and photonics, and the managing director of the International Commission for Optics in Pakistan. She is very active in science outreach, especially in disadvantaged communities in Pakistan, focusing on public girls’ schools, colleges and universities In 2016, she established the Active Learning in Optics (ALO) to bring physical sciences to underprivileged high schools and college girls in remote areas of Pakistan, and in 2021 she founded Pak-ICTP Alumni Society (PIAS). The association aims to nurture research collaborations, organize scientific outreach activities, provide career and vocational mentorship and help to develop active academic linkages between Pakistani and Italian educational institutes.