Female pioneer in physics - Dr Margaret Emmanuel Samiji

ISP would like to recognise Margaret Emmanuel Samiji for her magnificent contributions for physics education in Tanzania.

Dr Samiji from University of Dar es Salaam (UDSM), Tanzania, was the first woman to get PhD in Physics in her country! She obtained her PhD in April 2003 from the University of Port Elizabeth, South Africa.

Today Dr Samiji is an academician and a researcher. She is the group leader of the ISP supported Materials science and solar energy research group at UDSM. She is also the Tanzanian node coordinator for the ISP supported network MSSEESA (Materials Science and Solar Energy Network for Eastern and Southern Africa):

- Thanks ISP for the financial support to the Materials Science and Solar Energy research group, for purchasing equipment, spare parts, consumables and support to students to attend conferences!

Being the first woman to have a PhD in physics, Dr Samiji has a passion of encouraging female students to take up physics studies. Among a lot of things, she has been involved in organizing activities for the World Year of Physics (WYP2005). With the support of her country she managed to accompany eight students to Paris to attend the Inaugural Conference of the WYP2005.

Later that year she organised a physics talent search for woman students in Tanzania. Jenester Rutabirwa and Salma Hilal won the competition. Margaret and the two students were offered travel grant and travelled to Taipei in Taiwan for the climax on the WYP2005. This success inspired Dr Samiji even more to continue encouraging female students to study science subjects!

Apart from doing research in the area of materials science, she engage in the involvement of science activities at her university and in schools visits program. She was appointed to be Gender Focal Point of the College of Natural and Applied Sciences from 2015-2018.

In 2016 Margaret, together with Eunice Mureithi and Najat Mohamed wrote a proposal to ISP and managed to get funds for gender activities (Science Camps for A-level female students taking physics and mathematics). The team organised the first Science Camp and 15 students participated. Out of these 15, eight students joined higher learning institutions taking engineering and other science related degree programs!

So far she has organised six science camps and the results are amazing as more women now are taking physics and mathematics subjects. A total of 43 women from the Science camps joined higher learning institutions taking engineering and science related subjects. Both ISP and UDSM supported these camps.

In the near future Dr Samiji intends to have collaboration with other network in the region so that they can combine effort in the gender activities and share experiences.

We´re looking forward to hearing more about your encouraging work, Dr Samiji!