To ease the gender gap in photonics, Salah Obayya offers flexible deadlines, part-time work schedules and even a bus service to women in his group who are juggling research and family obligations. Credit: Salah Obayya
When Salah Obayya quit his job at the University of Glamorgan (now part of the University of South Wales) in Pontypridd, UK, in 2012 to lead a new venture at Zewail City of Science and Technology, an Egyptian research and technology park now in Giza, it was a risky career move. He had been recruited to start up the Center for Photonics and Smart Materials (CPSM), with a mission to conduct advanced nanophotonics research. He took on the challenge in the hope that it would give him an opportunity to help shape the future of higher-education institutions in Africa.
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He became director-general of research institutes at Zewail City in 2015, a role that allowed him to help broker partnerships between research centres and universities in North and sub-Saharan Africa. Now, as the director of CPSM, Obayya leads teams of researchers based at various Egyptian universities, and conducts in-person and virtual training in photonics — the study of light waves. He also lectures at Zewail City’s University of Science and Technology.
In 2019, the United Nations science organization UNESCO named Obayya as chair on innovative technologies for sustainable development in Africa. And in 2023, the scientific society Optica, Advancing Optics and Photonics Worldwide, which is headquartered in Washington DC, awarded him its Diversity and Inclusion Advocacy Recognition prize for his work to promote equality, inclusion and diversity in photonics research, and his efforts to empower individuals, especially women, from diverse African backgrounds to pursue research in the field.
Obayya’s research focuses on developing nanophotonic devices and creating computational modelling techniques using artificial intelligence. In particular, he works on the development of green nanophotonic technology in an effort to enhance the efficiency of solar cells, which is key to boosting sustainable-energy efforts. Through the Advanced Training Programme in Photonics for African Graduate Students, he trained female researchers, mostly from sub-Saharan Africa, and helped them to develop their research capabilities in photonics. Since 2019, he has provided free courses and workshops to students from all African backgrounds.
Obayya explains to Nature how his passion for promoting science in Africa led directly to his supporting gender equality in photonics, and why development can move forward only if barriers to women’s career advancement are removed.
Why is diversity and inclusion in science important to you?
During my time in the United Kingdom, where I interacted with colleagues from different backgrounds, I was impressed by how that environment fostered good performance. I realized the importance of diversity, and became aware that my home country of Egypt was missing out on the full power of diversity. The lack of highly trained women in nanotechnology research in Africa means a 50% shortage of the creativity and research expertise that diversity can provide.
I want to ensure that Africans take part in the AI revolution
Africa needs a scientific renaissance that not only provides opportunities and roles for researchers of different genders and from different ethnic backgrounds, but also unites these efforts through mentorship and continuous support. After I returned home, promoting diversity among my students and in my team for all African races and genders became one of my most important goals.
Funded by UNESCO, my team and I ran the African graduate training programme to provide African university graduates, especially women, with the opportunity to receive free training in advanced technological applications and to develop their skills and research capabilities to improve their access to master’s, PhD and postdoctoral programmes and the international job market.
What made you realize that you wanted to work to improve diversity, equity and inclusion in science?
I returned home with a passion for promoting photonics research in Africa. As director of the CPSM, I was shocked to find that the vast majority of applicants for master’s degrees were women, but that there was a severe shortage of female PhD and postdoc scientists.
