Born and raised in Samo’u – Palestine, Yousef I. M. Salamin is currently a professor of theoretical physics at the American University of Sharjah (AUS). Prior to joining AUS in 2003, he worked at Birzeit University in Palestine (1988 – 2003). He has undergraduate degrees in physics and mathematics (with distinction) from Birzeit University, a Master’s degree in physics from the University of California at Santa Barbara, and a PhD in theoretical physics from the University of Colorado at Boulder. His research in theoretical physics has taken him to highly renowned institutions in Europe and North America. He was a Junior Associate, and later a Senior Associate, of the Abdus Salam International Center for Theoretical Physics in Trieste (Italy). While affiliated with Birzeit and AUS, Prof. Salamin spent many long research stays (years) and short ones (months) in Germany, including at Bielefeld University, as a Visiting Professor and Humboldt Fellow; Freiburg University, as a Guest Lecturer and Visiting Scientist; Max Planck Institute for Nuclear Physics in Heidelberg, as a Distinguished Visiting Scientist; and Max Planck Institute for Quantum Optics in Garching (near Munich) as a Fellow of the German Academic Exchange Program (DAAD). Prof. Salamin is a member of the American Physical Society and the Optical Society of America. He is also an Associate Member of the Horace Hearne Institute for Theoretical Physics of Louisiana State University at Baton Rouge. His name appears among the top 2% of world scientists, according to a recent study conducted at Stanford University.

Current research interests of Prof. Salamin are in atomic, molecular and optical physics; laser-acceleration of electrons, ions and bare atomic nuclei, for medical and industrial applications; and ultra-high-energy cosmic rays (cosmic-ray acceleration to ZeV energies, where 1 ZeV = 1021 electron-volt). He has well over a hundred publications in high-impact international journals of physics, book chapters, and conference proceedings. He is a recipient of the Abdul Hameed Shoman Prize for Young Arab Scientists, an Alexander von Humboldt Fellowship, a Distinguished Scholar Award from the Arab Fund for Economic and Social Development, and several fellowships from DAAD. Over the years, his research in theoretical physics has attracted about US$600,000 from external and internal sources. He also supervised the work of several graduate students and postdoctoral fellows.

Most research interests for a scientist

• Laser acceleration of electrons, ions and bare nuclear for medical and industrial applications
• Cosmic-ray acceleration by electromagnetic waves