Recently, on March 19, 2024, the Institute of Physics (IOP) announced the recipients of the Outstanding Reviewer Awards 2023 for the Journal of Radiological Protection (JRP). Among the eight global scientists honored, one is Dr. Choirul Anam, a faculty member and researcher at the Department of Physics, Universitas Diponegoro.
Other awardees include Dr. Demetrio Gregoratto (UK Health Security Agency, United Kingdom), Dr. Jan Jansen (UK Health Security Agency, United Kingdom), Dr. Nezahat Hunter (UK Health Security Agency, United Kingdom), Dr. Mark Worrall (NHS Tayside, United Kingdom), Professor L. Mattsson (Lund University, Sweden), Dr. Anja Almén (Lund University, Sweden), and Dr. Rick Tanner (UK Health Security Agency, United Kingdom) (https://publishingsupport.iopscience.iop.org/questions/journal-of-radiological-protection-outstanding-reviewer-awards-2023/).
For Dr. Anam, this is his third Outstanding Reviewer Award. He previously received similar recognition from the Biomedical Physics and Engineering Express (BPEX) in 2020 (https://publishingsupport.iopscience.iop.org/questions/biomedical-physics-engineering-express-2019-reviewer-awards/) and from Physics in Medicine and Biology (PMB) in 2019 (https://publishingsupport.iopscience.iop.org/questions/physics-in-medicine-and-biology-2018-reviewer-awards/).
Apart from being a prolific researcher in various prestigious journals, Dr. Anam is frequently trusted to review for numerous esteemed international journals, such as Medical Physics, PMB, Journal of Applied Clinical Medical Physics (JACMP), Physica Medica, Journal of Medical Physics (JMP), JRP, and others. According to records from the World of Science (WOS), Dr. Anam has conducted journal reviews approximately 87 times (https://www.webofscience.com/wos/author/record/1667382).
Due to Dr. Anam’s contributions to the advancement of scientific knowledge, especially in the field of medical physics globally, he was also awarded the IUPAP Early Career Awards in Medical Physics 2022 by the International Organization for Medical Physics (IOMP) at the end of 2023 (https://www.medcom.id/pendidikan/news-pendidikan/Wb7R0pBN-top-ilmuwan-undip-raih-iupap-early-career-scientist-prize-2022-cuma-1-di-dunia-tiap-tahun). This award is given to only one individual globally each year.
Previously, Dr. Anam also received the Young Leader Awards 2019 from the South East Asian Federation of Organizations for Medical Physics (SEAFOMP) (https://seafomp.org/seafomp-young-leaders-award/), among other international recognitions.
The international accolades received by Indonesian scientists prove that they are competitive with their counterparts from developed countries. According to Dr. Anam, the key lies in three aspects: (1) believing in one’s capabilities, (2) striving to make contributions despite challenges and obstacles, and (3) persistence in continuing to work hard. “If time is spent lamenting over various shortcomings and limitations, including the lack of facilities, nothing will be achieved except for growing frustration. Therefore, no matter how small, we must do what we can. God willing, it will lead to something significant if we persist,” said Dr. Anam.
