Shamima K Choudhury is a Bangladeshi physicist, academician, researcher, and women-in-science advocate. She retired as a selection grade Professor from the Department of Physics, University of Dhaka on 30 June 2016 after 44 years of teaching and research. She supervised more than 60 Masters and MPhil students in Physics. She worked as the Provost of Rokeya Hall and as Director of the Bose Centre for Advanced Study and Research in Natural Sciences at Dhaka University.
Education
Shamima studied in the Department of Physics at Dhaka University beginning in 1967 and obtained her B.Sc. in 1970. She graduated with an M.Sc. in 1973, in the thesis group. She did her M.S. in physics at the Laboratory of Biophysics and Crystallography, School of Physics in the University of New South Wales, Australia, from 1978 to 1982. She also worked with Prof. Louise Johnson as a visiting scientist at the Laboratory of Molecular Biophysics, University of Oxford, U.K. in 1986 and 1988 under the British Council Exchange program.
Career
Academic
Shamima worked as a research scholar in the Department of Physics, Dhaka University from 1973-1975, before joining as a lecturer in 1975. She worked as a part-time tutor in the School of Physics, University of New South Wales, Australia, 1980-82. She came back to Bangladesh to join the Department of Physics, Dhaka University as an assistant professor in 1983. She became Associate Professor in 1988 and was promoted to Professor in 1998. She retired from the same department as a selection grade professor in July 2016.
University administration
Shamima worked as the Provost of Rokeya Hall, Dhaka University from October 1999 to February 2002. She served as a member of the advisory committee of Semiconductor Technology Research Centre, University of Dhaka from 1993 to 2016. She also served as the Director, Bose Centre for Advanced Study & Research In Natural Sciences, University of Dhaka, from March 2010 to June 2017. As the director of Bose Centre, she organised the 1st and 2nd International Bose Conference at the Nabab Nawab Ali Chowdhury Senate Bhaban of University of the Dhaka University in 2013 and 2015 respectively. Prof. Partha Ghose spoke as the keynote speaker of the event. She also organised many international workshops, Bose lectures, and birth and death anniversary of S.N.Bose, where many eminent national and international academicians and scientists attended. Prof. M. Zahid Hasan delivered Bose lecture in November 2015, in the Nawab Ali Chowdhury Senate building. She was a member of the Dhaka University Senate from 2012-2016.
Research
Shamima worked on various aspects of thin film properties, solar cells, ferrite and ceramic materials, nano and advanced materials, biophysics and crystallography throughout her career. Shamima has over 200 peer-reviewed national and international publications and has over 490 citations according to the Google Scholar and 416 citations according to ResearchGate. Her notable research projects include:
Transport properties of vacuum deposited thin films and structure determination by Electron Microscopy, 1972-1978.
Structural studies of inorganic and organo-metallic compounds using X-ray diffraction techniques, 1980-1982.
Structural studies of proteins using X-ray diffraction techniques and computer simulation, 1986-1990.
Radiographic studies of defects in welds using X-rays, 1990-1998.
Spirometric studies of Lung Function values of Bangladeshi Gender exposed to occupational dust, 1990-1996.
Characterization, Optical and Electrical properties of vacuum evaporated thin films of binary and ternary compounds to be used as solar cell, 1983 – 2017.
Study of Structural and electromagnetic properties of Ferrites and the effect of sintering and additives, 2006-2017.
Study of Structural, Dielectric and Electrical Properties of Pure and Doped Ceramics, 2004-2017.
Shamima has spoke in number of conferences advocating the gender equality in science, engineering and technology. In an interview with the Daily Star, she pointed out that percentage of women in physics and science are disproportionately low compared to the enrollment in medicine or other fields. She actively spoke for gender equality of women in ICT, science, and physics.
Philanthropy
Bangladesh Physical Society awards the Shamima Karim Choudhury Trust Fund Scholarship every year since 2016. The Scholarship is awarded to one male and one female student obtaining highest CGPA in their B.Sc. Hons. in Physics exam and one financial disadvantageous student while studying in the Dhaka University Physics Department. Rokeya Hall Alumni Association also awards one scholarship to a meritorious, financially disadvantageous undergraduate student from the Shamima Karim Choudhury trust fund.
