Physics won me over at first sight back in the seventh grade of primary school, and we have been inseparable ever since. I cannot remember a break of more than a few weeks in the last 15 years when I was not studying this science or thinking about physical laws and phenomena in nature, says Admir Greljo, a young theoretical physicist and the only scientist from BiH working at CERN.
This thirty-year-old with roots in Gacko was born in Trebinje, finished primary school in Mostar and secondary school in Sarajevo.
"I obtained my degree in theoretical physics at the Faculty of Science of the University of Sarajevo, and completed my doctoral studies on the physics of the Higgs boson at the University of Ljubljana in 2014," said Greljo.
He admits that learning physics was always a pleasure for him, but that he could never have dreamt that one day he would work with the best physicists of the modern world.
"I never felt it was an effort; on the contrary, learning physics was a pleasure. As a secondary school pupil I took part in numerous competitions in the field. Hand on heart, back then I could not even have dreamt that one day I would work side by side with today's best physicists in the largest laboratory in the world. I hope that among your readers there are schoolchildren who love science and whom this message will reach," says Greljo.
After completing postdoctoral research at the University of Zurich and in Mainz, he received a prestigious two-year fellowship at CERN's Theoretical Physics Department.
"The prestigious two-year fellowship at CERN's Theoretical Physics Department (CERN fellowship) is awarded to only two candidates from non-member states of CERN. I have been living in Geneva since October last year," said the young scientist.
As he says himself, a scientist's work cannot be reduced to a template, because it is impossible to predict when a real discovery will happen, and every day is different and interesting.
"I work in the theoretical physics of elementary particles, which investigates the tiniest building blocks of matter. I study what the fundamental particles are, what their properties are and how they interact. Every day I hold discussions with colleagues, work on numerical and analytical calculations, write papers, take part in conferences and so on," explained Greljo.
Doing science in BiH is often described as unprofitable, but Greljo says that young people are aware that studying mathematics, physics and related sciences builds skills that are very much recognised outside academia as well.
"Such graduates, for example, find jobs in the growing IT industry. The natural sciences have always been the basis for the technological and economic development of society. Investment in science is the fundamental driver of development, recognised in all developed countries. Politics in BiH must finally put the development of research institutes and universities, and consequently the creation of new research positions, at the centre of its agenda," said Greljo.
He stresses that existing teaching positions also need to be improved, and that this noble profession should be given the status it deserves.
In the future, he says, he will continue to pursue academic work.
"Physics is my calling and I want to continue doing academic work. Every theoretical physicist wants to predict a natural phenomenon that is later measured in an experiment. It sounds unimaginable to do something like Einstein, who predicted the existence of gravitational waves a hundred years ago, which were measured only three years ago. Still, it is worth dreaming," said Greljo.
CERN (Conseil européen pour la recherche nucléaire)
CERN is an international institution for nuclear research headquartered in Meyrin near Geneva, Switzerland.
It is the largest laboratory in the world and also a centre of experimental research, and the most important instruments at CERN are particle accelerators and detectors.
In them, particles are produced and measured in high-energy proton collisions.
These collisions temporarily recreate the conditions that prevailed in the early universe, and in this way scientists try to find answers to some of the biggest questions about reality.
The first website was created 30 years ago at CERN for the needs of research in elementary particle physics.
The task of CERN's Theoretical Department is to understand the implications of experimental measurements in the context of physical theories and to propose new measurements to verify them.
Source: Nezavisne
