Ghana’s Dr. Angela Taberi: Queen of Mathematics with Quantum Mission for Girls

Known as the Queen of Mathematics in Ghana, Dr. Angela Taberi is the first African to win The Big Internet Math of Competition – quite an achievement for someone who didn’t initially plan to study mathematics. was

The 35-year-old Ghanaian “enjoys solving puzzles and maths questions” and hopes her 2024 win will open up the world of maths to other African women – who have traditionally taken up the subject. have been discouraged.

Sixteen mathematicians were invited to compete for the leg-in-cheek title of “World’s Most Interesting Mathematicians” – a public vote program launched in 2018 by The Aperiodical blog.

The first winner was Dr Nira Chamberlain, the first black mathematician to be included in the British reference book Who’s Who and vice-president of the professional body, the Institute of Mathematics and its Applications.

During the event they all compete against each other – so two in each match – and then it’s down to the quarter-finals and semi-finals leading up to the big match to decide who has best illuminated their chosen mathematical concept. How is it described?

Dr. Tabari’s passion is quantum or invariant algebra, which she researches at the Ghana branch of the African Institute for Mathematical Sciences (Aims).

Objectives started in South Africa and then spread to Ghana, Senegal, Cameroon and Rwanda – postgraduate training in science, technology, engineering and mathematics. and to provide research.

Dr Taberi is also the Academic Manager of the Girls in Mathematical Sciences Programme, a mentoring and support scheme for girls in high or secondary school in Ghana.

It was established by Aims-Ghana in 2020 to “ensure that we have a pipeline of young girls who will advance in research and innovation in the mathematical sciences – academia and industry as well”.

According to Dr. Tabari, the number of girls and boys studying mathematics in high school is almost equal, but then the number decreases at the university level.

One reason is that, she says, students think that if they do math, they can teach the only thing, because math is still seen as a “boy’s subject” — and very There are fewer female role models.

This is something Dr. Tabari is trying to change.

But his journey into mathematics was not straightforward.

She grew up in Ishiman, one of the poorer, more densely populated neighborhoods of Tema, an industrial center about an hour east of the capital, Accra.

Her family home was happy but noisy – she has four sisters – and Dr Tabari often sought the peace and quiet of the local youth community center so she could study.

She wanted to follow in the footsteps of her two sisters and study business administration at university.

But his grades, though high, were not high enough – and so he was accepted instead of maths and economics.

“It was a blessing in disguise,” says Dr. Tabari. “Numbers and puzzles fascinated me – but I never thought a career in mathematics was for me.”

In 2015, Dr. Tabari received a scholarship to pursue a PhD at the University of Glasgow in Scotland. It was hard work, she says – and it was here that she experienced a pivotal moment.

She went to see Hidden Figures, a film about black American female mathematicians who worked at NASA during the segregated 1950s in America.

“It was amazing to hear the story of these black women on this world stage,” she recalls. “I had a lot of laughs watching it.”

She was particularly inspired by Katherine Johnson, whose extraordinary mathematical skills and calculations were crucial to the success of American spaceflight.

“Katherine Johnson worked so hard – and for a long time her work was hidden. It made me realize that I just had to keep going.

“If your work is not recognized now, it will be at some point in the future. It was a real turning point for me.”

Ghana reached a historic milestone in 2024 when Dr. Gloria Buchway became the first woman to receive a PhD in Mathematics from the University of Ghana.

It was a journey full of hardships – including selling water and yams on the side of the road at the age of six.

Through her non-profit organization FemAfricMaths, Dr Taberi strives to inspire other African girls and women from underprivileged backgrounds to follow their mathematical dreams.

Along with other volunteers, she tutors the youngest high school students in person and online.

She also posts interviews on social media that she conducts with leading female mathematicians from around the world.

Dr. Tabari is also passionate about the potential of quantum science and technology – which requires mathematics.

He is proud that Ghana, with the support of Mexico, is proposing to declare 2025 as the United Nations International Year of Quantum Science and Technology – the 100th anniversary of the discovery of modern quantum mechanics.

Quantum mechanics emerged from the study to reveal how extremely small particles – the most fundamental bits of matter, energy and light – interact with each other to make up the world.

He developed the Internet, solar cells, and global navigation satellite systems.

Researchers and major tech companies around the world – including China, the US, the UK, Australia and South Africa – are now racing to develop quantum technologies, including quantum computers and highly accurate measurement and sensor devices.

The hope is that complex problems will be solved at lightning speed – and there will be huge innovations in fields like medicine, environmental science, food production and cyber security.

“There’s a lot of discussion going on now – the pros and cons – of the jobs that will be created,” says Dr. Tabari.

According to the United Nations, Africa’s rapidly growing population, already the world’s youngest, will become the world’s largest workforce by 2040.

“But that doesn’t mean we will get jobs,” says Dr Tabari.

She hopes to organize a “quantum roadshow” as a first step to introduce quantum science to school children at an earlier age.

“We want young people to develop an interest in and start building all the relevant skills during their basic education,” she says.

The roadshow will be based on a recent quantum computing course he conducted for secondary school girls who attend classes at AIIMS Ghana during the holidays.

The course discussed what it takes to build a quantum computer, its current weaknesses – and the challenges quantum computing faces with existing systems, such as cryptography.

Working with UNESCO, Dr. Tabari will also host a week-long “Quantum Hackathon” at AIIMS Ghana in July for about 40 postgraduate students from various African countries.

“We want them to use their quantum skills to solve some of the biggest challenges we face, real-life problems,” says Dr. Tabari.

“It’s critical that we position our youth for this next big revolution.”