Marija Vranic, PhD researcher at Group of Lasers and Plasmas (IPFN/IST) was once again distinguished with the IBM Scientific Award. This is not the first time that Marija Vranic receives an award for her thesis titled “Extreme laser-matter interactions: multi-scale PIC modeling from the classical to QED-dominated regimes”. A year ago her thesis earned her the John Dawson Thesis Prize. “When I received a call from the jury telling me that my work has been selected I felt very surprised”, shares Marija Vranic.

The evaluation criteria is “based on a summary of the thesis, written under a pseudonym, so the identity of the candidate is completely unknown,” says the researcher. “The great challenge is conveying the importance of all my work through a document with less than 30 pages, not forgetting the essential idea” says Marija Vranic.

Born in Belgrade, Marija Vranic always wanted to study physics and she knew that one day, “sooner or later”, she would carry out research on computational physics. Her first contact with lasers and plasma scientific area occurred during an IAESTE professional internship in Northern Ireland“. “I was very excited about the intense laser-plasma interactions and its potential applications”, she shares. When the time came to choose a place to do a PhD, she heard about “a group that carried out high-quality research in Lisbon, and I wanted to be part of it”. “The working environment at GoLP is excellent, which is very important for a successful PhD thesis”, she stresses.

About the impact of this award in her career, Marija Vranic recalls that “the previous winners are successful people, and many feel that the IBM Scientific Award has made a significant contribution to their careers.” “I like what I do, and receiving this award is a confirmation that I’m on the right track”, she says.

The €15,000 award will be delivered to the Técnico researcher at a solemn session whose date is not yet set.