“I love doing science socially”

Appointed tenure-track assistant professor before the age of 30, Zoë Holmes has so far enjoyed a meteoric career — and without really seeking it. She is now being honored with the Zonta Prize, which every two years in Switzerland recognizes a promising young female scientist. The name of the laureate was announced on Friday, November 7, during a ceremony at EPFL, under the patronage of the School’s president, Anna Fontcuberta i Morral. The latter rejoiced in Zoë’s success, describing her as “an exceptional researcher who sees scientific disciplines in a transversal and interconnected way.”

Holmes’ initial academic background may have something to do with it: she combined physics and philosophy all the way to a Master’s degree, which she earned at Oxford just ten years ago. Until then, she admits she hadn’t really known which direction to take and imagined herself doing something more aligned with the social sciences. But she kept getting better at physics, and someone suggested she pursue a PhD — which she did at Imperial College London, “more accidentally than intentionally.”

What followed was just as serendipitous. During a summer school at Los Alamos National Laboratory, she caught the quantum computing bug. She found it fun, and above all, saw that the field offered real-world applications and funding prospects, while being highly collaborative — something that suits her personality well. It was there, in the south-western United States, that the London-born scientist completed her postdoc and was spotted by EPFL in 2021. Once again, she had so little confidence in herself that she nearly didn’t follow up (see video).

For a social approach to science

From this path shaped by chance and opportunity, she draws one key piece of advice: “Just following the crowd is maybe a little bit sad, but try and find your niche, the thing you like within areas that are either up and coming or have momentum already.”

Just following the crowd is maybe a little bit sad, but try and find your niche, the thing you like within areas that are either up and coming or have momentum already.

The intersection between quantum physics and computational science is a field in full bloom, with publications multiplying — each responding to the other, sometimes hitting dead ends, she admits, but often leading to breakthroughs. Together with her team and a wide network of collaborators around the world, Holmes is advancing the science of the infinitesimal via a combination of computational tools, analytical (pen-and-paper) methods, and plenty of spirited blackboard discussions.

“There's sometimes this image of science in popular culture of this lone maverick wolf doing things by themselves, having crazy ideas. And there are some brilliant people like that, but that's not the only way of doing it. It's definitely not my way of doing it. And I think a lot of women are like me and are better at doing science this way, doing it collaboratively, doing it socially.”

30,000 francs for three ideas

Awarded a sum of 30,000 Swiss francs, the Zonta Prize is in good hands with Holmes, who has already given thought to how she’ll use it. “I have three ideas,” she announces without missing a beat.

First: offering her team a week-long escape. “This is not a prize for me, it's a prize for my group. So, we're going to have a good group retreat somewhere. I think you get the best new ideas when you're in a nice, relaxed environment. So, we will probably find a little villa somewhere. We'll just have fun chatting about new project ideas for a week.”

This way of approaching work is very much in keeping with Holmes’ style — who, beyond a passion for climbing and year-round swims in the lake, readily admits to enjoying herself by reading a scientific paper in the sun, and not drawing much of a line between work and personal life.

“If you're really enjoying what you're doing, you don't feel the need for the divide so much. You can get excited by an idea at 9 PM and message other people about it. And if they're excited, too, then that's fun. I'm someone who does find it hard to switch off. I also don't feel the need to.”

No surprise, then, that her second idea for using the prize follows the same spirit: “I enjoy working with people not just in my group, but also in the wider community. I have a really good network of people who I value and appreciate, and I learn from. So, I'm thinking maybe of a workshop with some of them. A similar idea to the group retreat, but with a wider community.”

Finally, her third idea — once again in service of the community — is just as thoughtful.

“Without a doubt, gender diversity is an issue — I'm so often the only woman in the room... But it is not the only issue, and it might not even be the biggest issue these days. Social background makes a massive difference. I'm very conscious that both my parents have gone to university, and that streamlines the way so easily. If there is a way that I can acknowledge that, what I would like — in the ideal world — is to donate some of the money for some kind of workshop aimed at kids whose parents haven't gone to university at the ages of 17 or 18 to get them thinking about whether they want to go to university and how to do it.”

It takes Holmes back to her early years, when she was still a gifted schoolgirl who aspired more to social or political engagement than to pursuing physics.

“I had this strange relationship with a physics teacher, where physics wasn't 'cool', and I found it easy. So I messed around. I would either mess around or I would quiz him incessantly. And I'm not sure which he found the less annoying. He would come up with special punishments for me. And my report said things like: ‘Zoe should be leading the class. She isn't. Full stop.’”

Now she is. Full stop. And bravo!