Rajaâ Cherkaoui El Moursli (born 12 May 1954) is a Moroccan Professor of

nuclear physics Nuclear physics is the field of physics that studies atomic nuclei and their constituents and interactions, in addition to the study of other forms of nuclear matter. Nuclear physics should not be confused with atomic physics, which studies th ...

, at the faculty of science within th
Mohammad V University of Rabat
She won the L'Oréal-UNESCO Awards for Women in Science for her work on the

Higgs Boson The Higgs boson, sometimes called the Higgs particle, is an elementary particle in the Standard Model of particle physics produced by the excited state, quantum excitation of the Higgs field, one of the field (physics), fields in particl ...

Life

El Moursli was born in

Salé Salé (, ) is a city in northwestern Morocco, on the right bank of the Bou Regreg river, opposite the national capital Rabat, for which it serves as a commuter town. Along with some smaller nearby towns, Rabat and Salé form together a single m ...

in 1954. She obtained her first degree in mathematics at Lycée Descartes, Rabat. She had to argue the case then with her father to be a girl who would leave conservative Morocco to study further. She says that

Neil Armstrong Neil Alden Armstrong (August 5, 1930 – August 25, 2012) was an American astronaut and aerospace engineering, aeronautical engineer who, in 1969, became the Apollo 11#Lunar surface operations, first person to walk on the Moon. He was al ...

's achievements and a high school teacher inspired her. She went to study in

Grenoble Grenoble ( ; ; or ; or ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of the Isère Departments of France, department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Regions of France, region ...

in France where she obtained her doctorate in physics at the ''Laboratoire de Physique subatomique et cosmologie'' which was part of the

Joseph Fourier University Joseph Fourier University (UJF, , also known as Grenoble I) was a French university situated in the city of Grenoble and focused on the fields of sciences, technologies and health. It is now part of the Université Grenoble Alpes. Importance ...

. In 1982, she returned to Rabat.Biography R. Cherkaoui
, Mohammed V University, Rabat website. Retrieved 4 April 2015. In 2015, she was awarded the L'Oréal-UNESCO Awards for Women in Science for Africa and the Arab states. The award cited her contribution to the proof of the existence of the

. This particle is responsible for the creation of

mass Mass is an Intrinsic and extrinsic properties, intrinsic property of a physical body, body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the physical quantity, quantity of matter in a body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physi ...

. El Moursli raised the level of Moroccan scientific research and healthcare. The latter was acknowledged because she set up the first

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional prac ...

medical physics Medical physics deals with the application of the concepts and methods of physics to the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of human diseases with a specific goal of improving human health and well-being. Since 2008, medical physics has been incl ...

.2015 L'Oréal-UNESCO For Women in Science Awards
, Arnold Nou, WomenOfChina.cn. Retrieved 4 April 2015. Dave Charlton, ATLAS spokesperson congratulated her for her award and said "ATLAS congratulates Professor Rajaâ Cherkaoui El Moursli for this prestigious award, and the recognition of her part in the discovery of the

Higgs boson The Higgs boson, sometimes called the Higgs particle, is an elementary particle in the Standard Model of particle physics produced by the excited state, quantum excitation of the Higgs field, one of the field (physics), fields in particl ...

".ATLAS physicist wins L'Oreal-UNESCO Women in Science award
home.cern. Accessed 18 March 2024.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Moursli, Rajaa Cherkaoui El 1954 births Living people People from Salé Moroccan physicists Moroccan women physicists People associated with CERN Physics educators L'Oréal-UNESCO Awards for Women in Science laureates Moroccan women scientists Fellows of the African Academy of Sciences