Majed Chergui wins 2025 Great Arab Minds Award
Majed Chergui © 2026 EPFL
Majed Chergui, Emeritus Professor at EPFL’s School of Basic Sciences, has been awarded the 2025 Great Arab Minds Award in Natural Sciences.
The Great Arab Minds initiative was founded in 2022 “to search for exceptional talents among Arab scientists, thinkers, and innovators across key fields to identify, support, and acknowledge leading thinkers in the region, amplifying their impact on the region.”
The initiative, with a budget of 100 million United Arab Emirates Dirham, covers six categories: Natural Sciences, Medicine, Literature & Arts, Economics, Engineering and Technology, and Architecture & Design.
The recipient of the 2025 Great Arab Minds Award in the Natural Sciences is Majed Chergui, Professor Emeritus at EPFL’s School of Basic Sciences. Professor Chergui is widely regarded as one of the pioneers of ultrafast spectroscopy, a field that enables scientists to observe chemical, electronic, and structural processes on femtosecond timescales.
His research has fundamentally changed how light–matter interactions are studied, making it possible to follow molecular motion and charge transfer in real-time. These advances have had broad implications across physical chemistry, molecular physics, and chemical biology.
Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, and founder of the Great Minds Initiative, congratulated Professor Majed Chergui, and added that Professor Chergui’s work “…has established him as one of the most influential figures in ultrafast spectroscopy, materials science, and energy.”