Recently honoured with the highest civilian award for Indians living abroad by the President, Government of India, the Pravasi Bhartiya Samman, and Bharat Gaurav at the British Parliament, Dr. Archana Sharma is a Principal Staff Scientist at the CERN Laboratory in Geneva, Switzerland, active in the field since 1989 in high energy physics. A Ph.D. from Delhi University in 1989, a D.Sc. from the University of Geneva in 1996, and an MBA from International University in Geneva. Archana has worked at CERN experiments on R&D and the commissioning of large-scale radiation detectors. She is the founder and Project Manager of CMS GEM Collaboration since 2008, bringing a new technology GEM (Gas Electron Multiplier) - for exploiting one of the most sensitive detectors with the highest discovery potential. The GEM project spanned about 40 institutions in 17 countries, yielding over 75 PhDs under her leadership, many from India and including technology transfers with Indian industries.
Archana also serves as Senior Advisor heading Relations with International Organisations at CERN, in support of CERN's objective of integrating and highlighting fundamental research towards Science Diplomacy for Sustained Development Goals.
Dr. Sharma is Head of the Engagement Office for the ‘Compact Muon Solenoid’ Experiment at CERN, which connects her with a collaboration spanning 57 countries and about 250 institutions. She has collaborated with events at the ILO Geneva and World Communication Forum Davos as the spokesperson for diversity and excellence in scientific communication. She is well known for her relentless efforts in mentoring hundreds of young students particularly girls in STEM, via her NGO based in New Delhi. Archana is also a patent owner of a family of gas detectors, an author of over 1200 publications and 3 popular science books:
The first Indian to be exceptionally be employed by the Conseil Européen pour la Recherche Nucléaire (CERN), Switzerland in 2001, Archana Sharma is a principal scientist currently serving as Senior Advisor Senior Advisor for Relations with International Organisations like the United Nations and WHO. She has hence proven to be an exemplary professional who has passionately kept in touch with her motherland.
At CERN since 1989, Sharma has broken many new grounds pioneering the development of gaseous detectors. Her projects have yielded over 75 PhDs from 20 countries, including India and Sri Lanka. With great ingenuity and creativity she has threaded South Asia in all her initiatives beyond the call of duty.
Archana started mentoring students from 2001, and each year the engagement of Indian students increased; she facilitated between 10 and up to 40 Indian students per year doing their internships at CERN in the field of Nuclear Science and Engineering. In her laboratory over 650 students have interned over last 20 yearsa from various countries.
She leveraged her privileges and shared them with Indian students. She raised money, arranged for visas and visits, and has selflessly dedicated her life to her students. Her focus continues to be India and South Asia, where she continues several series of high-impact activities; a report from 2014: Indian Summer Students at CERN 2014
In 2017 SAHEPI: South Asia High Energy Physics Instrumentation series of workshops of which one has been held in Colombo, Sri Lanka others in Nepal and Mauritius among others.
In 2019 SASEP: South Asia School Education Program
Over the last decade she travelled the length and breadth of South Asia and in India at Institutions, Universities, raising awareness about STEM, raising scientific temper by giving talks and workshops about her work, impact and engagement in science and engineering at technological festivals, institutional events etc. Sharma has become a role model to girls particularly from small towns and underprivileged backgrounds with her enthusiasm and approachable manner. Archana instituted a special training for students in India, in collaboration with Quark-Net United States; this initiative has already impacted more than 150 teachers of which around 35 are trained: https:// quarknet.org/content/quarknet-india
Archana initiated a special bi-annual training for high school teachers from CERN dedicated to India and South Asia, that amalgamated 21st century pedagogical tools, Organised by Life Lab Foundation for Education and Research that she has founded and leads, in collaboration with CERN and The International School of Geneva. The second edition was held in Bhutan in 2022 . And the third edition is scheduled for 2024.
Major outreach events by LifeLab Foundation at 150 schools including Kendriya and Navodaya Vidyalayas, an impactful interaction with over 30,000 students and teachers as participants from 150 schools in 11 cities org.in
Since 1989, Archana has worked on several CERN experiments both on R&D being involved in designing and prototyping, and on running laboratories for construction, installation and commissioning of large scale gaseous detectors. She is the founder and leader of CMS GEM Collaboration since 2008, for exploiting one of the most sensitive detectors for trigger and tracking in the CMS Experiment at LHC, with the highest discovery potential.
Sharma pioneered the development of resistive plate chambers and micro-pattern detectors, her publications, review articles and a special volume on Instrumentation on Particle Physics edited by her are widely referred to and cited.
She is the co-owner of patents on a family of detectors called THRAC – Timing and High Rate Capable devices
Archana has served on numerous committees and plays a vital role in advisory review boards for leading International Conferences, Publications and Symposia in the Archana is an examiner for European Commission Horizon 2020 projects and advisor/reviewer for some national funding agencies. She has shepherded new groups at CERN and in her experiment from other countries.
Sharma has been on board as honorary Adjunct professor is several institutions where she teaches courses on radiation detectors and their applications in high energy physics and in other fields like medical imaging and diagnostics, astronomy, space etc. (has given over 30 courses in various -international- institutions).
She has been actively facilitating knowledge exchange and capacity building in the science and technology sector exploiting her Chairperson mandate in the International Committee and the Career Committees of CMS experiment.
Archana is the author and co-author of over 1200 publications with over 300 publication of less than 10 authors. She is invited regularly for keynote talks in international conferences and public addresses in various science and technology.
Over the last 15 years Dr. Sharma actively participates in several Indian initiatives for promoting Science and Technology, and was recently one of the key thematic-group member on “Mega Sciences” for the formulation of the Science, Technology, and Innovation Policy (STIP) - 2020 at the Department of Science and Technology (DST) and The Office of Principal Scientific Adviser, GOI.
In 2021, Archana has been appointed Senior Advisor for Relations with International Organisations in support of CERN's objective of integrating and highlighting fundamental research towards Science Sharma is leading setting up collaborations with the United Nations Agencies like the WHO, ITU, WMO, UNITAR among others.
Archana has been an eminent speaker at hundreds of events in the country over the last two decades, recent notable recognitions:
Pravasi Bhartiya Samman given by the President of India, Government of India 2023
Bharat Gaurav (Pride of India) Award given at British Parliament by the Indian Bharat Gaurav Committee 2023
Featured in Symmetry (a highly regarded physics publication from USA)
Woman Achiever of the Year Year of Award - 2014 for significant Contribution to society in your field by Aadhi Abaadi Organisation in India
Founders day talk at IIA Bangalore
Inaugural Dr. Bibha Choudhary Lecture at PRL
Nehru Science Centre, Mumbai Women’s day Lecture in 2020
IEEE Distinguished lecture at TRIUMF Vancouver
Invited to Keynote talks at FORCE-II Kathmandu 2023 and IEEE Sensors 2023
Sharma involvement at CERN began in 1987 when she won a three-year fellowship to conduct research in the detector development group led by Georges Charpak. After finishing her first PhD in Delhi, Sharma moved to Geneva with her family in 1989 to conduct her post-doctoral research in gaseous detectors, through which she realized her lack of expertise in instrumentation and thus decided to pursue a second PhD at the University of Geneva.
After finishing her second PhD, Sharma held positions at the GSI-Darmstadt in Germany and the University of Maryland, College Park.By 2001, she had gained enough skills to apply for and receive a long-term position at CERN.Since 2001, she has worked on the Compact Muon Solenoid (CMS) experiment, designing high-efficiency detectors to facilitate the detection of the Higgs-Boson particle.She has mentored around 20 PhD students during her time at CERN and has authored or co-authored over 800 publications.
