In this interview with Scholarships Cafe, Nurudeen Rahman, a current doctoral student at Basal University, Switzerland, shares with us how he started his graduate school journey, the hurdles, and tips for prospective candidates. Excerpts:

SC: Hi Nuru, pleasure to meet you, can you please tell us about yourself?

Noor: I am Nurudeen Rahman, but you can call me Noor as I'm popularly known on my twitter page. I'm a first year doctoral student at the University of Basel and partly also work as a researcher in the Helminth and Drug Development Unit at the Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute with an interest in Helminth-microbiome interactions. Prior to this I had worked as a researcher assistant and an assistant project coordinator on the Innovative Tools to Expand HIV self Testing (ITEST) in Nigeria.  

SC: Impressive. Nice to meet you, Nurudeen. What is your background, (school, field, interests)?

Noor: I mentioned this briefly in the beginning, but surely love to reiterate it. My background was in Microbiology from Kwara state University, then I proceeded to the university of Lagos where I earned my 2nd degree in Parasitology and Bioinformatics. While working at the Nigerian Institute of Medical Research, I worked in the STH and Onchocerciasis Lab on research focused on the epidemiology and control of Neglected tropical diseases (NTD). These diseases are dear to me because they are mostly prevalent in impoverished areas with little support for them. Hence, I decided to channel my interest towards the field of Helminth-microbiome interactions in the Helminth and Drug Development Unit at the Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute to  conceptually look for new attempts to treat and understand this debilitating diseases.

SC: Thank you for sharing Noor. When did you begin your grad school plans?

Noor: That's a bitter sweet question. At first, it was more like a 'japa' thing, baseless plans without success. Sometimes I even look back at the documents I've written and submitted 4 years ago when the journey started and laughed at myself. All I can say is that a couple of friends (I plan to keep them always close to my heart), Dr. Olumuyiwa, and the Vstem organized by erudite scholars on the edu-twitter community opened my eyes to possibilities. Since then, it's been a battle of mentoring people to successful applications without being successful, but as the saying goes, "Na who give up, fuck up", I was relentless in my pursuit, watched people grow, learnt through my shortcomings and eventually got it right. That's to say there's a particular scholarship, program or school that fits everyone, just need to look deeper, try harder and keep at it. Surely, something great is going happen.

SC: That's inspirational. Great job so far. How many schools did you apply to?

Noor: Between 2019-2022, 40 applications, 72 cold emails sent. 8 paid off, only 1 with funding.

SC: Wow. Quite a lot of work you put in. The one with funding is the Swiss scholarships you're currently on, yea?

Noor: Yes, it is.

SC: Congratulations again. We're so proud of you. Did you know of Scholarships Cafe before you started? If no, when and how did you find out?

Noor: Thank you. And No, I got to know about Scholarships Cafe through Dr. Olumuyiwa, whom I was opportune to meet on Twitter in 2020. Through his continuous push on the community, I applied for the Voice In Stem application, which was prominent in shaping and revamping my writing and application skills. I would say I was really glad when I got to know I was part of the Scholarships Cafe team. That actually reinvigorated my passion to do better and make the community proud.

SC: You sure are making us proud. Did SC support you at any point during the application process? If yes, what areas?

Noor: Yes, with my research proposal, cold mail and CV.

SC: Great! What particularly in our opinion do you think helped you land your offer?

Noor:I would say getting a supervisor that is ready to give her all to see that I succeed in the application. We worked on my proposal within 5 days, although I was fortunate to get her attention with my first email, and we had a perfect fit. Hence, she made sure I crossed my I's and dotted my T's. I am really enjoying working with her already.Also, I had fantastic recommendations from my Research and Academic mentor, and a great CV perusal from Dr. Olumuyiwa.

SC: Isn't that just lovely! What challenges did you face and how did you overcome them?

Noor: With regards to this application, I would say it was seamless, I think I was favoured by God because I didn't have to push too much to get this particular one. Also, the graduate coordinator at Swiss TPH was there all the way leading me through the right path, even paying for my application fees at Uni Basel. The only headache would have been getting my transcript from Unilag for my admission but I was fortunate enough to get it 2 days to the deadline.

SC: So precious. How would you describe your grad school experience since landing your offer? Is it what you envisioned?

Noor: Yeah.. it's better than what I expected, a supporting and encouraging environment with everything needed to succeed.

SC: We love that for you. Last question, what is your advice for aspiring scholars?

Noor: Strive to make the impossible dream a possible one. Self-motivating yourself to  be the better and believe yesterday can't hurt you more than it already has, you have no power over it but you can change the future, and to cap it all pray for grace and favour, it's always needed.

SC: We couldn't agree more. Thank you so much for your time Noor. You've been amazing. We appreciate what you do for the community. Cheers.