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Dubai: Sheikh Mohammed announces Great Arab Minds winner for natural sciences
Professor Majed Chergui has published more than 450 scientific papers, achieving more than 23,000 scientific citations from around the world
Dubai's Ruler announced the winner of the Great Arab Minds Award for the Natural Sciences category on Wednesday, December 17.
Professor Majed Chergui, Honorary Professor at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, bagged the award for presenting pioneering scientific contributions in observing ultrafast motion at the atomic level.
Professor Chergui has dedicated his scientific career to exploring molecular dynamics that occur over extremely short timescales, opening new experimental approaches in chemistry and revealing phenomena that were previously inaccessible using conventional methods.
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He has also contributed to the development of ultrafast X-ray techniques, and published more than 450 scientific papers, achieving more than 23,000 scientific citations from around the world, making him one of the most influential scientists in ultrafast spectroscopy, materials science, and energy.
He has served on numerous international scientific committees, was Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Chemical Physics published by Elsevier, and founded the Journal of Structural Dynamics of the American Institute of Physics.
"Congratulations to Professor Majed Chergui on this achievement… and to those who think that Arab scientific creativity is confined to the past, the Arab Great Minds Award comes to confirm that our present bears names no less impactful, no less accomplished, and no less ambitious," said Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai.
Mohammed Al Gergawi, Minister of Cabinet Affairs and Chair of the Higher Committee of the Great Arab Minds, informed Professor Chergui of his win during a video call.
The Great Arab Minds initiative honours pioneers, innovators, and ambitious individuals who open new horizons for their societies across science, medicine, literature, art, economics, and development.
Professor Chergui has also pioneered modern research tools, including two-dimensional ultraviolet spectroscopy and ultra-fast circular dichroism, enhancing scientists’ ability to study complex biological systems and advanced solid materials.
He has played a key role in the development of ultra-fast X-ray techniques, advancing understanding of how light interacts with matter and expanding research possibilities across chemistry, physics, materials science, and renewable energy.
Among his most notable innovations is the ultra-fast X-ray spectrometer, which captures signals with femtosecond-level resolution and provides access to previously unexplored spectral regions. This instrument is particularly suited to the study of wide-bandgap transition metal oxides.
Professor Chergui currently focuses on the use of nonlinear X-rays to study solar materials, leveraging their ability to observe charge motion and propagation in solids in real time. He continues to contribute to the development of X-ray free-electron lasers (XFEL), which have advanced nonlinear optics and spectroscopy since their emergence in the early 2010s in the United States, Japan, Italy, Germany, Switzerland, and South Korea.
Now in its third edition, the Great Arab Minds initiative is the largest of its kind in the Arab world and has become known as the 'Arab Nobel', dedicated to honouring exceptional thinkers and innovators. This recognition is reinforced by the fact that the winner of this category in the 2024 edition, Professor Omar Yaghi, also went on to win the 2025 Nobel Prize in Chemistry.
Laraib Anwer
Laraib Anwer is a Digital Journalist who loves the thrill of breaking headlines almost as much as she does unapologetically using GenZ slang. She dreams of a world free of animal cruelty and hopes to tell community stories that make a difference.
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