Beyond brilliant

By Noga Martin

Physics remains a notable exception to closing the STEM gender gap, with significantly fewer women pursuing postgraduate studies and research careers in this field than other scientific disciplines. Since 1960, women have comprised only 14% of MSc and PhD physics graduates at the Weizmann Institute, and as of the start of the 2023-24 academic year, the Faculty of Physics had only three female principal investigators. A new student-run group aims to help talented female physicists overcome the significant yet often invisible obstacles that may hinder their progress in this field.

Yael Lebel and Danielle Gov, co-founders of ShePhysics@Weizmann—a student group dedicated to providing professional development and support for women in physics—met during a first-year MSc rotation in the lab of Dr. Ziv Meir in the Department of Physics of Complex Systems. A few years earlier, Dr. Inbar Savoray had tried establishing a similar group for women in physics, but the COVID pandemic kept it from gaining traction.

Dr. Savoray (now a postdoctoral fellow at the Berkeley Center for Theoretical Physics in California) joined forces with Yael and Danielle at the time, and with support from the Weizmann Institute’s Office for the Advancement of Women and Gender Equality, they launched ShePhysics in 2022.

‘There are so few of us’

The onset of the 2023-24 academic year found Yael to be one of only three female students in the lab of Prof. Uri Alon in the Department of Molecular Cell Biology, an aberrant ratio in life sciences, where women often constitute at least half of the members of a given laboratory. The Alon group, which studies principles of the molecular systems that guide the decisions by human cells, comprises biologists and physicists, so

Yael Lebel (left) and Danielle Gov.the relatively low number of women in this lab seems to reflect the overall low representation of women in physics.

Danielle, meanwhile, is one of only two women in a group of 10 in Dr. Serge Rosenblum’s lab in the Department of Condensed Matter Physics. Both she and Yael believe the underrepresentation of women and girls in physics starts well before university. Unusually, half the students in Danielle’s high school physics class were girls, yet she was the only one who pursued a higher education degree in physics. As an undergraduate at Tel Aviv University, the absence of women hit home.

“I got there and realized, ‘Wow, there are so few of us,’” Danielle says. As an undergraduate, she observed that women faculty members in the exact sciences were few and far between. The situation in physics, however, was “the worst,” she recalls, with all physics lecturers and the vast majority of physics teaching assistants being men.

Yael recalls that there was only one woman in the entire physics faculty when she was working on her BSc at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev.

Both women see physics in academia as a domain that is not particularly welcoming to women. Danielle describes the environment as one prone to “aggression and antagonism—traits that are more male.”

“If you see a [physics] group that doesn’t include any women, you’re less inclined to join it. It makes you wonder―wait a minute, what does this say about the PI?” she adds.

What does seem clear is that women students and faculty pave the way for other women in physics. Danielle says that once a lab has one or two female members, others feel more comfortable, and the atmosphere becomes more congenial.

“For me, having another woman in my group is very important. Even if we’re not close friends, we have a special shared experience. We can talk about things that if I discussed with one of the men in the group, they might not completely understand,” she says.

While they sense a shift in the dynamics, Danielle feels her male colleagues address her differently than they do other men, or might not ask her questions even if she is more knowledgeable about a particular subject than the men in her group. “But it’s a gray area, and you don’t know how to put your finger on it. ‘Wait, am I imagining it?’ It’s always hard to say if that’s what’s going on or not,” she shares.

Yael adds that “If the situation is different 15 years from now, I’ll advise female students to go into physics. But right now, I don’t see myself in a physics department.”

Still, the number of women choosing to study physics at all degree levels is increasing incrementally. “The more female MSc students there are, the more [women] PhDs there are, and then postdocs. It’s starting to make its way up,” Yael says.

Community and inspiration

Once they complete their PhDs, both women plan to pursue postdoctoral fellowships—which an unwritten rule in Israeli academia stipulates must be at an institution abroad— and both are aware that the decision to do so presents unique challenges for women. In fact, this is one of the major points at which female physics students turn away from research careers—another being when it comes time to apply for tenure-track faculty positions.

When Yael and Danielle launched ShePhysics@Weizmann, they sent out a questionnaire to all female physics students at the Institute, seeking their input on what services and support the group should provide.

Most respondents asked for less of a “support group” and more practical meetings focusing on professional development. Since then, the group has hosted sessions on science communication, a panel on women in industry, and a CV writing workshop that the women described as a “huge success.” They also held talks by Prof. Nirit Dudovich, Head of the Department of Physics of Complex Systems, and Prof. Shikma Bressler from the Department of Particle Physics and Astrophysics.

Yael notes that the group has encountered pushback from male students, who question why a CV writing workshop is being offered only to a women’s group. “They ask why women’s initiatives get financial support. In my opinion, if women start at a disadvantage, it’s justified,” she says.

As Danielle points out, advocating for women in physics is an entirely different approach than gender-based affirmative action or quotas, which do not exist at the Weizmann Institute.

The way to advance women in physics, according to Yael, is to create a community and provide motivation. “The inspiration to leave [Israel] for a postdoc as a woman, with kids, I already have. I think that what ShePhysics is ultimately building is community. We bring in inspiring people—like Nirit Dudovich, who is a great role model—but mostly, it’s the community. The most brilliant women make it to the top. But to get there, you need to be more brilliant than your male colleagues.”

Arguably, groups like ShePhysics strive to become obsolete for future generations of women physicists and physics students.

“It’s nice to have a community, but the community is vital because we’re a minority. If we weren’t a minority, we wouldn’t feel isolated. Ultimately, the goal is for the group to become unnecessary,” Danielle says.

‘A wonderful initiative’

Prof. Dudovich, who completed her MSc and PhD at Weizmann, returned to campus in 2007 following a postdoctoral fellowship in Canada, becoming the first female PI in the Faculty of Physics. She says the atmosphere in the faculty has evolved in recent years and that there is a conscious effort to recruit more women students and faculty members. The interview process for all candidates, known for decades as particularly daunting, has also been revised, and while still rigorous, now incorporates a more personalized approach. Students are prepared beforehand to alleviate any “stage fright.”

“Furthermore, we now have three female PIs and hope to recruit more,” she adds.

Prof. Dudovich recalls feeling isolated as the sole woman in her MSc (1999) and PhD (2004) classes despite full support from her supervisor. She says she missed the friendship and support of fellow female physics students and needed more role models among the senior scientists.

She has warm praise for ShePhysics, which she calls a “wonderful” initiative. “If only it had existed back then!”

INSIGHTS IN IMMUNITY

Yael Lebel, PhD, Year 1

Supervisor: Prof. Uri Alon

After completing a BSc in physics at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in 2021, Yael came to the Weizmann Institute as a direct-to-PhD track student. She completed her MSc in 2023 under the supervision of Prof. Uri Alon in the Department of Molecular Cell Biology and chose to remain in the Alon group for her PhD work.

For her MSc studies, she used math and physics tools to create a model that provides insights into immune responses in autoimmune diseases characterized by periodic eruptions or episodes, such as multiple sclerosis. She plans to use the same tools to uncover mathematical principles that explain other immune phenomena—for example, how the body copes with viruses or how the immune system attacks cancerous growths.

“I discovered this field by chance and fell in love with the immune system,” Yael says.

MEASURING QUANTUM SYSTEMS

Danielle Gov, PhD, Year 1

Supervisor: Dr. Serge Rosenblum

Danielle earned her BSc in physics from Tel Aviv University in 2021 and immediately began her graduate work at the Weizmann Institute on the direct-to-PhD track. In 2024, she finished her MSc under the supervision of Dr. Serge Rosenblum in the Department of Condensed Matter Physics.

Work in the Rosenblum lab focuses on quantum computing using superconducting qubits, which is considered a promising technology for quantum computer systems. Danielle’s project specifically examines quantum systems and explores the dynamics of quantum systems under various strengths of measurement.

“We still can’t explain what happens to a [quantum] system when you measure it in terms of physics,” she explains. “We have a mathematical description that works very well, but we don’t understand why. So, I’m working on taking a quantum system, measuring it, and seeing how the measurement affects its quality.”

URI ALON IS SUPPORTED BY:

• Sagol Institute for Longevity Research
• Jeanne and Joseph Nissim Center for Life Sciences Research
• Braginsky Center for the Interface between Science and the Humanities
• Kahn Family Research Center for Systems Biology of the Human Cell
• Zuckerman STEM Leadership Program
• Rising Tide Foundation
• Abisch-Frenkel Professorial Chair

SERGE ROSENBLUM IS SUPPORTED BY:

• Schwartz Reisman Collaborative Science Program
• Rabbi Dr. Roger Herst Career Development Chair