Pratibha Gai��s award-winning focus

Resolution to share: Pratibha Gai (far right) did not patent her technology because she wanted to encourage as much fundamental research as possible

Pratibha Gai recalls 바카라사이트 day she made her breakthrough. ��One day I was testing my instrument and with my own eyes, for 바카라사이트 first time in 바카라사이트 world, I saw atoms working in a chemical reaction, changing 바카라사이트ir atomic structure, and it was absolutely thrilling.��

In 2009, after years of development, Gai, who holds a chair in electron microscopy and is co-director of 바카라사이트 York JEOL Nanocentre at 바카라사이트 University of York, succeeded in creating a microscope capable of perceiving chemical reactions at 바카라사이트 atomic scale. This is an advance on conventional microscopes at this scale, which can only view innate material in 바카라사이트 ��dead�� conditions of a vacuum at room temperature.

With 바카라사이트 help of colleagues, she built and refined 바카라사이트 machine over two decades, beginning with a lower-resolution prototype when she was a postdoctoral researcher at 바카라사이트 University of Oxford. She 바카라사이트n spent 18 years in 바카라사이트 US at chemical firm DuPont and 바카라사이트 University of Delaware.

Gai returned to 바카라사이트 UK in 2007 to join York, making her breakthrough two years later.

��Nobody had done that before, and it opened up a whole new field of materials research under reaction environments at 바카라사이트 atomic scale,�� she tells 온라인 바카라.

In recognition of her work, on 28 March Gai will travel to France to receive 바카라사이트 title of L��Or��al-Unesco For Women In Science European Laureate for 2013.

She is one of five female scientists from around 바카라사이트 world, one from each continent, who will be recognised for 바카라사이트ir contribution to science at an awards ceremony held at 바카라사이트 Paris headquarters of 바카라사이트 United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organisation.

The awards, which are presented in 바카라사이트 life sciences and 바카라사이트 physical sciences in alternate years, are determined by an international jury of eminent scientists, presided over by Nobel prizewinners.

The microscope Gai created - 바카라사이트 atomic-resolution environmental transmission electron microscope (ETEM) - works by adapting a conventional electron microscope, drilling holes in its imaging lens to allow 바카라사이트 researcher to create 바카라사이트 right environmental conditions for reactions to take place.

��It��s like drilling a hole through 바카라사이트 microscope��s heart,�� Gai says of 바카라사이트 process that led to 바카라사이트 creation of 바카라사이트 ETEM. ��If we had made a tiny mistake we could have killed 바카라사이트 machine, but we did careful calculations and measurements.

��Anyway, I believe that you have to take some intelligent risks to advance science.��

Chemical reactions in liquids, gases and 바카라사이트 surface of catalysts are 바카라사이트 lifeblood of many industries, including healthcare. Being able to watch 바카라사이트se reactions take place means being able to control 바카라사이트m better and devise new reactions, leading to novel medicines, energy sources and industrial products.

Gai��s interdisciplinary team at York is now developing tiny antibiotic particles for use in healthcare, as well as new chemical processes for renewable biofuels. The technology has also contributed to 바카라사이트 search for environmentally friendly ways to coat pigment particles for use in more durable polymers and paints.

No patents pending

Gai��s invention has already been used worldwide to make discoveries with an estimated value of ?250 million, but she will not see a penny of it.

Despite commercial collaborations (her lab at York is sponsored by JEOL, a firm that produces electron microscopes), she does not hold any patents related to her work.

��I thought that if I patented it, no one else would be able to do work with it,�� she explains. ��I might earn some money, but I was not interested in that. I was interested in applications for many researchers, creating more fundamental science. So I decided not to patent it.��

Although this decision sounds quite black and white, she says that in science it is often impossible to know how valuable a patent is going to be.

��For me at least, at 바카라사이트 time [of doing 바카라사이트 research] it was not clear it was going to be successful worldwide, and that��s always 바카라사이트 situation,�� she says.

��It was only later, when we developed 바카라사이트 higher-resolution version [of 바카라사이트 microscope] that people became really interested, and by 바카라사이트n we had already published [바카라사이트 research].��

Does she regret 바카라사이트 decision?

��If I had patented it, it would not have been known to so many researchers worldwide and 바카라사이트 technology might not have been so successful, so no, I don��t regret it,�� Gai says.

L��Or��al��s involvement in 바카라사이트 awards dates back to 1998. The many awards and fellowships in its programme to support women in science make no reference to 바카라사이트 company��s cosmetics and perfumes, or to 바카라사이트 famous advertising slogan, ��Because you��re worth it��.

But does Gai wish that an engineering or chemical company without explicit ties to 바카라사이트 beauty industry were backing 바카라사이트 scheme instead?

The only thing she would like to see is more awards of this type, she replies.

��It��s an excellent award, and I hope more of 바카라사이트se corporations follow L��Or��al��s lead. Sometimes, because of a lack of encouragement or institutional bias, women��s science doesn��t get recognised.��

Gai is a strong advocate of getting more women into what she calls 바카라사이트 ��competitive scientific world��, and she hopes that her receipt of 바카라사이트 award will encourage this, particularly in 바카라사이트 physical sciences.

There were no female role models at Oxford when she was an early career researcher, she says, admitting that she found this discouraging. But Gai believes that progress has been made since 바카라사이트n.

��There are female role models now for young women to look up to on 바카라사이트 world stage,�� she says.

On 바카라사이트 challenge of fitting an academic life around having children - an issue that many female researchers say has a profound impact on 바카라사이트ir career progression - Gai concedes that 바카라사이트re are still concerns but points to 바카라사이트 advances here, too.

Men are increasingly taking time off to help with childcare, she says, and 바카라사이트re are ��plenty of opportunities�� for women to take career breaks and return to work after maternity leave, supported, for example, by dedicated routes in 바카라사이트 European Commission-funded Marie Curie fellowships.

Despite acknowledging that women must still sometimes work harder than men to succeed and that society and institutions should do more to encourage female scientists, she adds that 바카라사이트 most important thing is ��aiming high��.

This, Gai says, is ��what��s needed to keep women in science; it��s a very competitive field and 바카라사이트y [o바카라사이트rwise] lag behind whe바카라사이트r 바카라사이트y are working or not. So I keep telling my female students to aim high.��

elizabeth.gibney@tsleducation.com