Since I was young, I was always dreaming of being a scientist like the Egyptian Nobel laureate Prof. Ahmed Zewail. His success story was always impressing me. After Secondary School, my parents insisted me to be a pharmacist, but I filled my application secretly and chosen faculty of science. After that, my parents respected my wish and helped me to achieve my dream. In 2006, I graduated from faculty of science with a very good grade and at that time, I told myself “the first step for achieving my dream started”. I was lucky to be accepted at “scientists for next generation” program, which was organized for the first time by The Academy of Scientific Research and Technology, Egypt. The academy awarded me a scholarship for my master degree at Cairo University. After my master graduation, I got the chance to meet my idol Prof. Ahmed Zewail in a scientific meeting and have dinner with him. I remember I cried when I met him and told myself “I’m moving on the right track”. I decided after meeting Prof. Ahmed Zewail to get my PhD from abroad like him. I applied for PhD scholarship in many countries including China until I met my closest Chinese friend “Ying” in Germany and I asked her about the lifestyle in China. Her speech about China, Beijing especially, encouraged me to accept the Chinese government scholarship at Institute of Process Engineering (IPE), Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS). At the same time, I got PhD scholarship in Japan, but I preferred to go to China. I feel that my real life started when I reached Beijing in 2014. I cannot deny that I faced many challenges during my first year in Beijing, but I was lucky to have perfect lab mates and Chinese friends. My Chinese friends helped me to improve my Chinese language that is considered the main obstacle for any foreigner in China. My PhD life in IPE, CAS was very fruitful. I finished my PhD study within three years and published three research articles at outstanding international journals. Directly, I got the outstanding PIFI postdoctoral award in December 2017. My PhD supervisor (Prof. Chunzhao Liu) and my Postdoc supervisor (Prof. Jianmin Xing) gave me the full support to get this award.

My postdoctoral research investigates the promising nano-materials which could be used to solve the problem of water contamination by different microorganisms especially which exist in the form of biofilms. These biofilms are very difficult to be eradicated and causes numerous pathogenic diseases. My postdoc research also investigates the nano-biosensors fabrication for dissolved H2S detection in wastewaters. Besides, Prof. Xing helped me to be a member at international research project between Horizon 2020 (Europe), and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC). The project is about plastic hydrolysing enzymes expression for plastic biodegradation. Thankfully, I have two research articles under review now at very good international journal. This success would not be achieved without the wonderful guidance from Prof. Xing. He is always caring and supportive. I have been lucky to have generous support from my supervisors and IPE staff.

On the family side, I was always getting generous support from my husband. I got married in August 2016 and started my small family in Beijing. My husband is also studying at IPE, CAS and now he is my lab mate too. We are supporting each other to achieve a better life with better research achievement. We also visited many Chinese cities such as Dalian, Xi’an, Tianjin, Guangzhou, Shanghai, Hong Kong and Macau. Finally, I thank and appreciate the great support of Chinese Government and Chinese Academy of Sciences for the PhD scholarship and the President's International Fellowship Initiative (PIFI) for postdoctoral research. After finishing my postdoc in China and returning to Egypt, I will always be in collaboration with my supervisors and IPE staff.

Thanks, IPE …. Thanks, CAS