Nobel Laureate Donna Strickland on the Challenges for Women in Science

Physicist Donna Strickland, a self-described "laser jock" who prefers to keep a low profile, won the Nobel Prize in physics Tuesday, becoming the third woman ever to do so — an achievement she described as "surreal."

"It’s hard for me to take it in right now," Strickland tells TIME. "But I’m trying to enjoy it.