Due to the war in Yemen, I had stopped studying for two years. This opportunity gave me the chance to complete my postgraduate studies.

What has surprised me is the way technology is emerging and affecting the current state of research. We are encountering a fourth industrial revolution that entails advances in computing power, quantum computing and artificial intelligence, which has already been shown to alter the way we conduct research.

The OWSD award helped me not only to become the researcher I am today, but also to become a leader in research.

The main problem in radiotherapy is that most cancer cells are resistant to radiation.

I want to be in the boardroom. I want to be part of the policy mechanism. I want my influence to go higher than the classroom.

What fascinated me is that only 5% of microorganisms are harmful, and the rest are beneficiary.

Winning this award opened many doors for me. It has led to success in acquiring local funding.

I intend to disperse my achieved knowledge as one of the leading researchers in my country in the domain of microbial biotechnology, to support sustainable and prosperous agriculture.

If we do research, in addition to establishing connections with other researchers, we must also communicate and do a lot of outreach in order to share our science with the community.

When you are following your passion, people will always see what you are doing. People will see that you are doing something different, and they will help you.

“Am very proud to say that I am encouraging other Cameroonian female scientists to apply for the OWSD fellowship programme and some of them have obtained the grant."

OWSD fellowship represents a real empowering difference in my life and career

After my postdoc, I will return to Syria and work to achieve my big dream, which is to establish a research center.

I desire to see my country, Nigeria, become a leading destination for impactful clinical studies.

My dear girls in science: be strong, inquisitive, curious, assertive, resilient, and focused. Go for gold!

I’ve been working on reptile and amphibian biodiversity for 10 years, and I know that there are still new species that need to be described.

When I got my OWSD fellowship, it was an amazing feeling. Before getting the letter, my academic career was a dream, the letter made it possible.

“Ten to fifteen years from now, people, not only in Kenya but in the African continent, will switch to magnetic refrigeration”