Physicist puts Papua in the map

Physicist puts Papua in the map

Tb. Arie Rukmantara, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

What is the last thing you would expect a young woman to do in
planning her future after winning a science olympiad?

Turn down an offer to study at Harvard University.

That was what Anike Nelce Bowaire, a winner of Poland's First
Step to a Nobel Prize in Physics (FSNPP), did recently, saying
she preferred to study at the country's state universities --
Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB) and the University of
Indonesia in Jakarta.

"I want to enroll at universities the same way as other
Indonesians do ... through university entrance examinations," the
18-year-old said, adding that mentally, she was also not prepared
to live far away from her parents.

"I don't want to be accepted at a university solely because I
win a competition and I want to experience what other Indonesian
college students have gone through -- a students' initiation and
other unforgettable experiences as new students," she said.

These are the only things Anike has to think about because the
graduate of State High School SMAN 1 Serui in Papua province will
not have to dream up a way to finance her study.

Soon after Anike won the award, the Jakarta-based Freedom
Institute granted her a full scholarship, from a bachelor's
degree to doctorate at any university she liked.

Although she did not win any cash prize, she said the
scholarship was suitable compensation for her efforts to be the
best in science.

"Back in my high school, I could only study science by reading
books," she said, adding that there was no way for her to carry
out laboratory experiments at the poorly equipped institution.

"Yes, there was a lab there, but the room was used for
teaching activities and all the lab equipment was stored on the
shelves."

The daughter of Yohanes Bowaire and Yemima Woriori; both civil
servants in Papua's regional administrations, said "guidance" was
the key that allowed her to beat 78 other participants from 28
countries at the FSNPP.

"The difference between preparing myself in my high school and
here in Jakarta is that I got proper guidance from mentors, who
are some of the country's noted science professors."

Anike said the professors not only taught her how to master
physics, math and English, they also taught her how to be
original.

Order from chaos

"My mentors always highlighted that my research should be
original, it should not came from previous studies already
published," Anike said.

Due to this guidance and a systematic transfer of knowledge,
Anike came up with a project called "Chaos in an Accelerated
Rotating Horizontal Spring", which earned her a gold medal in at
the competition in June.

"The idea is how to prove that horizontal spring movement can
also be used to study chaos, a study of random motion," she said.

Some scientists said the finding, which they named the
"Bowaire Model" could allow people to study earthquakes, human
heartbeats, and soccer players' running styles along with other
forms of chaotic movement.

"The study of chaos is widely applicative. It could be applied
to water drops, weather forecasts and even share prices on stock
exchanges. But I haven't taken my research that far."

Practice makes perfect, as the saying goes. And Anike's
achievement did not come in an instant. She has spent about 16
hours a day during the past two years mastering the methodology
and the practical experiments of chaos theory. It is unsurprising
then, that with all this brain work, her hobbies are largely
sedentary -- sleeping, listening to music and reading.

"No time for TV soap operas and no boyfriend," said the girl
who also won the competition at the National Physics Olympiad in
2004 and a Special Prize at the International Conference for
Young Scientists in Katowice, Poland, in May this year.

Yohanes Surya, one of Anike's mentors and the president of
Indonesia Physics Olympiad Team said Anike's hard work and her
potential meant she and other young Indonesians could become
Nobel laureates in physics by 2020.

"The International Conference of Young Scientists (ICYS) held
in Katowice is a prestigious contest for senior and junior high
school students worldwide. I am proud that Anike and her friends
won in such an internationally recognized competition. This shows
Indonesia can play an important role in world-level scientific
research and experiments," Yohannes said.

Besides hard work and brainpower, Anike's achievement also
came from the courage to make a vital decision.

"Before participating for the First Step to a Noble Prize in
Physics competition, I had to quit the International Physics
Olympiad Team, which I had been a part of since 2003," Anike
said.

"It was a tough decision. It still makes me dizzy."

She was also motivated by the news about her home province of
Papua, which was mostly negative.

"After George Saa won the FSTNP in 2004, the news about Papua
mainly concerned health problems and a feud about the
implementation of regional autonomy. I want to put Papua in the
headlines again, only this time with good news," she said.