The First Pakistani Woman PhD in Astrophysics: Exclusive Interview with Mariam Sultana! [Starts With A Bang]

One life is all we have and we live it as we believe in living it. But to sacrifice what you are and to live without belief, that is a fate more terrible than dying. -Joan of Arc

Regardless of what intrinsic differences any person or group of people have from another, everyone deserves to be treated as an individual, afforded the same opportunities to pursue their passions, goals and dreams, and evaluated on the merits of their performance. Although this is not yet the way the world works, I am confident that many strides are consistently being made in the right direction, and I was overjoyed earlier this year when I came across the following international news story.

Image credit: The Express Tribune with the International Herald Tribune, http://tribune.com.pk/.

I felt a personal connection to this story since astrophysics is my specialty, and its important for everyone to see more examples that great scientists in general come from all backgrounds, races, religions, countries, and genders. If you have a passion to be a scientist, Ive always encouraged everyoneto follow itand become whatever it is you want to, to the best of your abilities.

But this story was more than just an important milestone and step forward; when I saw it, I felt it was an opportunity to bring a much richer story to the world. Theres a story here not of the first Pakistani woman to get her PhD in Astrophysics but of a human being who followed her passions to achieve her goals, the struggles she faced, the help and support she had along her way, and a window into the unique life of a real person. So I approached her in July and asked her if shed be willing to do an email interview with me. She not only agreed, but encouraged me to ask as many questions as I wanted; I solicited them on twitter, google+ and facebook, and chose many of them to ask her.

Image credit: Flickr user Kashiff, http://www.flickr.com/photos/15025651@N08.

Mariam Sultana is from Karachi, the largest city in Pakistan, and has graciously provided some insightful answers about her experiences and perspectives, and has agreed to share them with the entire world. I am overjoyed and privileged to share with you the following exclusive interview with Mariam Sultana, astrophysicist!

Youve recently gotten your PhD in extragalactic astronomy. What has your research been about?

My research is about the formation theory of ring-like structures in a disk-like self-gravitating system in the background of a non-stationary Universe.

How did you first get interested in astronomy?