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Dr. Tamara Elzein

Secretary General, National Council for Scientific Research of Lebanon

CV

Secretary General of the National Council for Scientific Research of Lebanon since July 2022, to be… (more)

Secretary General of the National Council for Scientific Research of Lebanon since July 2022, to be the first woman to lead this institution since its establishment in 1962. She is laureate of the "L'OREAL-UNESCO for Women in Science" prize (Levant-Egypt region 2016) and the “International Rising Talent” award in 2017. In October 2020, she has been named, by the French Republic, Chevalier dans l'Ordre des Palmes Académiques.  In 2023, she served as President of the Science Commission during the 42nd session of UNESCO General Conference.

 

She is co-president of the French-Lebanese committee of the PHC CEDRE program, Vice-President of the Lebanese National Commission for UNESCO, and member of the Advisory Committee for Scientific Research and Innovation of ALECSO. She’s member of the Board of Trustees and steering committee the EU program PRIMA. She previously served as scientific advisor to the current Minister of Education and Higher Education. In addition, between 2016 and 2022 she had been a member of the international scientific board of the AUF. In 2019, with the support of UNESCO, she founded the national observatory for women in research "DAWReK'n-دوركنَّ", of which she is the president. Starting 2023, she becomes the jury president of the “L’OREAL-UNESCO for Women in Science” program for both Levant and Middle East regions.

 

Regarding her scientific career, after a PhD in physical chemistry from the University of Haute-Alsace (2002), she was appointed in 2003 Maître de Conférences at the same university. At the end of 2013, she asked to be placed on leave to return to Lebanon and join CNRS-L. Her scientific research has been published in two international patents and more than 70 articles and international conferences.

 

In addition to her professional commitment, she is active in the field of open science and to linking Science and society. In this context, she represented Lebanon as an expert in the Intergovernmental Meeting of Experts (Second Category) on the UNESCO recommendation on Open Science (2021). She got support from UNESCO to implement her project "Unlocking Science" which aimed to popularize science and make it accessible to Society through various activities. Within this project, she established several events with new concepts, such as "Dardacha Talks” and "Scientific Mezzés". In parallel, she wrote for the Lebanese and Arab press many articles dealing with education, research and scientific progress, rankings, the trust in Science, etc.