Ahmed Elkassas, PhD in Engineering, and Dalia Zakaria, PhD in Biosciences.
Ahmed and Dalia are an Egyptian couple who have recently celebrated the end of a combined eight years of research as they submitted their PhD theses at the University of Exeter. Staff at the University think they are the first married couple to have worked simultaneously towards a Doctorate in Exeter, a testament to hard work and dedication - particularly as their daughter was born during the research process.
Both scientists are from Cairo and got married at the start of their studies in Exeter. Engineer Ahmed Elkassas spent more than four years researching soil behaviour in the University's Department of Engineering. His wife Dalia Zakaria was funded by a British Government Overseas Research Award for her biological sciences project on the degradation of the herbicide mecoprop; her findings are now being expanded into commercial proposals.
The theses were submitted just in time for daughter Nadine's third birthday.
The family have now moved to Bedford where Ahmed is working as an engineering consultant and Dalia is working on more papers to develop her PhD project.
Nasser Mansour, PhD Education
What were your motivations for choosing your postgraduate programme?
Obtaining a PhD is part of my commitment to my job as an Assistant Lecturer at Tanta University in Egypt. I chose the research area of teachers' beliefs and science, technology and society in Egypt as I believe it is important to help teachers understand how to cope with the complexities of the relationship between beliefs and practices.
Why did you decide to study this programme at the University of Exeter?
Simply because the University is well known and is very highly ranked in Education.
Would you recommend this postgraduate degree to someone considering studying here?
Yes, I would. Exeter has high quality research equipment, the School has a huge library and the latest versions of data analysis programmes eg. Nvivo and SPSS.
Free English sessions are provided for international students to help us with assignments and thesis and we are encouraged to attend national and international conferences and seminars.
It is also worth mentioning the high standard of supervision provided by Exeter. I deeply appreciate the guidance, insights and support I've received from my thesis supervisors. Our regular meetings and their ability to listen carefully and probe into my research problems was invaluable in formulating my thesis. Moreover, they helped and encouraged me to publish journals.
