Manila-born Dr. Jacquiline Romero who is a physicist working in the field of quantum physics, which explains the nature and behavior of matter and energy at the atomic and subatomic level received the L’Oréal-UNESCO For Women in Science (FWIS) International Rising Talent Award in Paris, France.

Her love for math and science started when she was 8 years old when one of her family members who was an engineer gave her a book on algebra.  Upon receiving the book, she got amused that she was able to understand and solve the problems written.

She on the other hand discovered about quantum physics when she was 15 years old and since then she found it fascinating because for her it is a “new way of looking at information that is both philosophically radical and technologically powerful”.

Dr. Romero graduated magna cum laude in 2005 from the University of the Philippines in Diliman with a bachelor’s degree in Applied Physics and completed her Master’s in Science in Physics. She got a scholarship in the University of Glasgow and moved to Scotland in 2008 and received her PhD in Quantum Physics in 2013. In 2015 she became a senior lecturer in the University of Queensland in Brisbane, Australia.

Winning the L’Oréal-UNESCO For Women in Science gave her the platform to show that women too can succeed in the field of science. She believes that her story can bring about inspiration to young girls out there who aspires to become a scientist in the future.

Dr. Romero’s success in the field of science is a definition of girl power. She defied the social stigma that women can’t work and succeed in a male-dominated field.

Photo Credit: UNESCO’s Official Website