Safa Abdulaziz

Safa holds a BA in Classical Studies from the University of Lorraine (France), awarded as an equivalence for the CPGE programme she completed (a two- to three-year intensive course preparing students for the entrance examinations to the French Grandes Écoles).

She was then admitted to the École normale supérieure (ENS) de la rue d'Ulm in Paris. During her time at the ENS, she earned a master's degree in Humanities/Ancient Worlds: Languages, Texts, Images. Her master's thesis examined an early correspondence between Ibn Sina and Al-Biruni during their youth: "Al-As'ilah wa'l-Ajwibah: Ten Questions and Answers on Aristotle's De Caelo (critical edition, translation, and commentary)".

She spent a year preparing for the Agrégation de Lettres classiques (a highly competitive exam qualifying candidates to teach Greek, Latin, and French language and literature at an advanced level), which she successfully passed in 2023.

As part of an exchange programme between the ENS Ulm and Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, she spent a year in the United States as a junior lecturer. There, she taught French and offered a one-semester literature course on short narrative forms, "Intensités: récits brefs de langue française".

After completing her studies at the ENS Ulm, she received the school's diploma in 2026. Over the course of these six years, in addition to studying ancient languages and civilizations, she also pursued coursework in Greek and Arabic philosophy, history and philosophy of science, modern literature, arts, and introductory courses in scientific disciplines.

At ISAW, she plans to continue studying and working on the history of astronomy, during Antiquity and the early Middle Ages, with a particular interest in Greek astronomy, especially the work of Ptolemy and his commentators such as Theon of Alexandria. She also seeks to trace the legacy of Greek astronomy, particularly within the Arab-Muslim world. A central concern of her research is the circulation of knowledge and skills between civilizations, ancient and medieval, with a strong emphasis on the history of texts.