The Institute of Physics of the United Kingdom has a very beautiful tradition
and is that it rewards
to scientists who currently
They are making excellent contributions to the development of physics.
Among these awards, he gives the Maxwell medal,
that is delivered to theoretical physicists
that in its early stages of the research career, first decade,
They are making good contributions to the development of theoretical physics.
Since 1962, and for 44 years, almost half a century,
this award was given only to men.
But in the last decade, this started to change,
and the prize has been received by five women in the last decade,
one of those me, this year.
(Applause)
Thank you very much, but beyond personal satisfaction,
this prize, what you are showing is something very important
what is happening at this time in the world.
The contributions of women in all fields
they are finally beginning to be recognized.
And at the same time women are taking risks and areas
that were traditionally associated only with men.
This dynamic of change has been recognized and valued
by all countries as critical to its growth,
not only scientific and technological, but in general, economic.
But nevertheless,
So far, this dynamic of change is in its infancy.
The question I ask myself is how is it possible that in the 21st century,
2016, October 28, until now, we are beginning to recognize the contributions
of women in all areas?
I think, the reason why this happens is because societies are
clutched with hands, feet and everything they can to stereotypes.
Having received this award, resulted in an attention
of the press and the media, which obviously you will imagine,
as theoretical physics, it was not used to anything,
and the different interviews invited me to reflect on my life
and about how it was possible that he was here today.
My way has been a super exciting adventure; Ups and downs.
And one thing is clear, being here today, is the result of having pierced
the barriers of all types of stereotypes: gender, socioeconomic, cultural.
Sometimes I crossed those barriers alone. Many times, with help.
Many times unconsciously, and now more recently, consciously.
These stereotypes simply stall us,
they paralyze us completely; I grew up in a socio-economic context
where neither girls nor boys go to university.
Today, less than 10% of this population has access
to any type of higher education.
My dad and my mom are wonderful, but they did not have the opportunity either
to go to college; none of the people that I knew in my neighborhood
they went to the university; there you worked to live.
None of the people that I knew, that had close as references
They had gone or planned to go to university.
In the school where I studied, the books we read,
because the protagonists did not go to the university either.
For example, Maria. Do you remember Maria?
La María, this beautiful girl, with her braids, very industrious,
like a fool, enthralled by his cousin Efraín,
who did go to college.
I had gone to college in Bogotá and in London.
And the Dulcinea, by Miguel de Cervantes, this slender, perfect, wise woman,
but that only existed in the imagination of Don Quixote,
because women of that type, apparently, do not exist.
And if you ask what we had on TV, El Chavo del Ocho.
But from there, Quico was not going to go to university.
And we also had Wonder Woman, but for what university?
If with her crown, and the bracelets, the ribbon, that was enough to be heroine.
The point is, in this context, there was no reference
that the university was a real option.
Except, for the district school where I studied.
Because we had been told there that we should prepare for that ICFES exam
that was going to allow us to enter the university, or maybe not.
But no, because I am a rebel. That life was not going to be for me.
That stereotype, that option A, was not going to be for me.
I knew that the university existed, and so it was, that with the help of my mother,
that is neither Maria, nor Dulcinea, is rather like the Wonder Woman,
we started to explore option B, the opposite of the stereotype:
Going to college.
That’s how I came to the district university to study a degree in physics.
But to understand a little stronger what it meant to have taken option B,
the opposite of the stereotype,
I think we have to understand what a stereotype is.
And like good physics, I have to look for an analogy of physics to explain it.
I see the stereotypes …
like black holes. In physics, black holes,
it is these regions of spacetime that trap everything, including light.
I see stereotypes as social black holes,
that catch the light of bright minds,
of talented minds that can transform.
The stereotypes then paralyze us completely,
they are an imminent danger for societies.
The question is:
What are we going to do then to disintegrate these social holes?
What can we do to overcome the barriers of these stereotypes
that do not allow people to develop their potential
beyond imagined?
My proposal is very simple, but not easy.
Take option B.
Create option B, the opposite of the stereotype,
and exploit its power to the fullest.
What I want to tell you now is, according to my experience,
what are these three fundamental characteristics
of option B, the opposite of the stereotype.
The first feature is that option B
is to take that first step.
It’s not a little step, it’s almost a jump.
From this social black hole to the world of alternatives.
It is the first step that triggers that possibility.
When I started studying undergraduate physics at the district university,
I never imagined that at the end of the race,
I could go to a student exchange in Spain.
This was an option B, a completely atypical option that the university
He began to offer and that the best students could access.
In Tenerife, Spain, I met the sea for the first time.
Not in Cartagena, in Tenerife, Spain.
And having made this exchange changed my life completely.
It changed the way I think and the way to see what alternatives I had.
When I started the district university, I did not even know that Oxford existed.
Less, than 10 years later,
I would end up doing a PhD there, completely becada.
in what is now considered the best university in the world.
And this world of alternatives that was opened to me for having taken option B,
It leads me to describe the second feature of this option B.
Option B comes from here.
Option B is in essence,
explore all the dimensions of what we are passionate about, all of them.
I love everything that contradicts intuition, and physics is that.
Physics contradicts intuition, for example, quantum physics,
that explains how electrons and atoms work,
it tells us that one can not know exactly
where is an electron or how it moves?
But with this stubbornness, it remained in my head, how is that possible?
And I dreamed and dreamed of this idea that I could not know what electrons were like
nor how they moved; and one night, I dreamed that I had seen the electrons
and that I knew exactly how they were moving and I woke up happy.
But then, how do dreams happen, right?
I did not remember how they were or how they moved.
(Laughter)
(Applause)
This is what happens in dreams, but what this dream taught me,
is that I did not just want to study physics, I wanted to create physics,
I wanted to do physics, and so it was that, again, I took option B.
What is expected of a person who finishes a degree in physics,
and that does not have anything bad, but it is the expectation
is to start teaching in a school and go deeper into the area of education,
at least at that time. I decided that I wanted to do a masters in physics.
And so I arrived at the University of the Andes,
where I learned what it is to do research,
what it is to be like this explorer, who enters a world he does not know
and start making roads. Or, sometimes, it’s like being a detective,
I connect here and here and I find an explanation.
But there, I found this concept re crazy,
which is the concept of quantum coherence.
Quantum coherence, says one, for example, if you have a coin
that you can see the face and the seal of the coin at the same time;
that if you throw the coin, when the coin falls into your hands,
You see the face and the seal. I do not know, crazy.
But I love it. And so, I studied it during the doctorate
until I found it in photosynthesis.
In the molecules responsible for producing oxygen
that you and I (Inhale)
we breathe in this moment; as well as the quantum currency
have two options, these molecules have
at least two different ways to transfer energy.
And it turns out that if we can understand this, it’s like understanding
what are the phenomena that sustain life on Earth.
But if we can not understand that that is a difficult question,
At least we can take inspiration to develop new technologies.
And this leads me to describe the third feature of option B.
Option B is to enter into a disruptive, creative, reflective dialogue,
with other voices that are also breaking stereotypes.
And in that dialogue, identify in advance the stereotype and the obstacles
with which we will meet.
The research work that I do is interdisciplinary.
Try to put in quantum physics dialogue and biology.
There are not many biologists who like quantum physics,
and precisely because of this, it is an area that faces arduous skepticism.
My contribution in this field has been to develop theoretical works
that dialogue these disciplines and many others, to give clarity
to the importance of what type of quantum phenomena occur in these systems.
And so, be able to overcome that skepticism.
But this contribution I have not made alone.
I’ve done it with a work team
that under my leadership, they decided to take the risk too
to do theory in this field.
And so it has been, that all my way,
I have met with a group of scientists
that consciously or unconsciously, they are helping that.
To break stereotypes, in this case in science.
Because when you go to a physics lecture
and he meets one hundred men
and less than ten women, it is clear that physics, like many other areas,
He is losing the talented and brilliant minds of so many women.
Can you imagine what the world would be like,
what would this country be like, what would this city be like or the neighborhood where they live,
how we would be ourselves, if we stop pigeonholing
to people in boxes of stereotypes?
If we give way to these reflective and creative dialogues
that allow us to create a society
much more prosperous and inclusive?
My proposal for you
is that they take option B, that they create options B,
that create spaces where those counterexamples are given life.
And that space begins today, here, exactly here,
in the Fine Arts Theater, in our minds, and with this dialogue.
(Applause)
”
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