Malek was member of an experiment at CERN, which research was about the quark–gluon plasma, a physics state observed in 2000.[5][6] This state of matter is frequently compared to the primordial soup that existed shortly after the Big Bang.
Malek joined the ATLAS experiment at CERN in 2000. She was leading the Grenoble group who were responsible for the design and prototyping of the Liquid Argon (LAr) Calorimeter and was the scientific leader of the French WLCG grid-computing infrastructure.[7] Together with the worldwide ATLAS experiment collaborators, she contributed to the discovery of the Higgs boson, announced in 2012.[8]
Malek was President of the Alps branch of the French Physics Society, Société Française de Physique[9][10] (SFP) from 2000 to 2002. Member of the European Physical Society since 2007, she served in the "physics for development group" during four years (2010-2014). She also served in the "Physics for development Committee (C13)" of the International Union of Pure and Applied Physics (IUPAP) organization from 2009 to 2015.[11]
Physics for development in Africa
In 2019, Malek and Kétevi Assamagan, published an opinion letter to address the issue of the absence of the African continent in worldwide science and technology prospects, particularly in fondamental physics.[12] Shortly after, in 2020, Malek co-founded with Kétevi Assamagan among others, the "African Strategy for Fundamental and Applied Physics", seeking to identify priorities, directions and means for the scientific research, education and capacity building for the African continent.[13] In 2022, she was invited to join the African Synchrotron Initiative Think Tank, initiated by the African Academy of Sciences, in view to set up a Pan-African Synchrotron facility[14] and gave a talk on that subject at the 14th African Academy of Sciences General Assembly.[15]
Gender parity in science
Malek is involved in equity and inclusion in science activities. She founded and was the first president of the Association pour la Parité dans les Métiers Scientfiques et Techniques (Parité Science) in 2002.[9] She contributes to projects and activities to promote women scientists, within the French national association Femmes et Sciences[16][17] as well as within the European Platform for Women Scientists (EPWS).[18] She coordinated the exhibition "La Science Taille XX elles" to promote women scientists, in Grenoble area.[19][20][21]
On the occasion of the 60th anniversary of CERN, her profile was presented, among other scientists, at the Palais de la Découverte, from October 17, 2014 to July 19, 2015 in the exhibition "Experts in the field - Views on CERN ”[22] as well as on the “CERN 360° Experience”[23]
Malek has authored or co-authored more than 1200 articles, most of which deal with the physics of the ATLAS experiment. Among all of these articles, 18 have been cited more than 500 times.[25]
Articles and book chapters
Michèle Leduc, Faïrouz Malek et Roger Maynard, Reflets de la physique, May 2007[26]
Faïrouz Malek, Reflets de la physique, July- August 2010[27]