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Egypt !!
Honorary Reporter !!
KGSP !!
korea !!
Korea.net !!
Korean Government Scholarship Program !!
Korean scholarship !!
Mahmoud Alnaggar !!
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By Korea.net Honorary Reporter Nuran Sami Hassan Ibrahim
Photos = Mahmoud Alnaggar
The Korean Government Scholarship Program (KGSP) is one of the most popular scholarship programs at the international level since eligibility includes people from many countries all over the world. The program seeks and encourages excellent students from a wide range of countries, and fully funds their stay in Korea until they are granted their degree. One of the successful applicants is Mahmoud Alnaggar from Egypt. He's a science enthusiast whose story is inspirational. Thus, I thought it'd be a good idea to have an interview with him regarding the details of his remarkable scholarly journey in the hopes that it would somehow motivate you to keep going down your path and to do what you love.
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| Mahmoud Alnaggar studies science on a Korean government scholarship program and founded a Muslim students union in Korea. |
- Please introduce yourself.
My name is Mahmoud Alnaggar. I am an Egyptian born and raised in Dubai. I graduated from the German University in Cairo in 2009 and majored in pharmacy and biotechnology. I got my master's degree in pharmaceutical chemistry from that same school in 2011 and I'm currently doing my Ph.D. work at the Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST) in Seoul in nano-biomedical engineering. I worked in different jobs before leaving Egypt, including and not limited to being a teaching assistant at my own university, being a transcriber for AC Nielsen, running a community pharmacy, and being an exam proctor for the IGCSE exams at the British Council in Cairo. This has all given me a sense of how the world works.
I have been the president of the Muslim student association in Korea for two years now, and I also co-founded it. Other activities include being the representative of the African students at KIST and currently the international student representative at KIST, too. Finally, one of the most important things I do and of which I feel very proud is having a YouTube channel that I use to try my best to simplify scientific topics and to help students apply for scholarships in Korea. The name of the channel is "Knowledge Capsule," كبسولة علم" in Arabic.
What's the subject or goal of your YouTube channel?
The main aim of my YouTube channel is to spread knowledge, scientific enthusiasm and scientific thinking. People today only care about things that are not beneficial. People believe anything that they hear or see on social media due to them lacking a basic knowledge of how the world works. If they just had a basic knowledge about science, they wouldn't believe every single thing that comes their way.
What conferences have you participated in, and where?
I have attended many conferences inside and outside Korea over the years. In Korea, they are all scientific, related to my research, such as the Korean Polymer Society's biannual conference, and the Korean biomaterial conference. While my non-technical conferences were all outside Korea, they included a conference at Istanbul University related to international student study programs. There, I gave a lecture about studying in Korea as a foreign student. In addition, conferences in Egypt included spreading science among the public during National Science Week in three cities -- Cairo, Aswan and Hurghada -- in which I gave lectures about how Korea became a science superpower in 60 years and why we should love science.
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| Mahmoud Alnaggar has been to many conferences about science. |
You have an ongoing passion for science. What has been your biggest inspiration or influence?
Well, I guess it all comes back to three people: my mother, my secondary school science teacher and my high school chemistry teacher. The women in my life always encouraged me to continue in the sciences and to do something for the world. Maybe I haven't yet left a huge fingerprint, but this is basically the plan. No one remembers what the pharaohs used to listen to, or watch, but all of us know exactly what science they left behind. This means that the only thing that is immortal is scientific knowledge.
What positive trait or uniqueness have you found in Korea that you haven't find anywhere else?
They are decent. They just don't like to cause trouble. Plus, they are very hardworking, which was the main reason for their economic growth.
Unlike other people who may have been fans of Korean pop music or TV shows, you weren't into Korean pop culture before going there to study. Have you felt any kind of cultural disorientation? What has helped you adapt to the differences?
Well, in my case it was a bit different. I was born and raised in Dubai in a multicultural community. During my undergrad studies, I traveled through Europe, went to Germany, the Netherlands, the U.K., France and Brussels. So getting used to a new country wasn't that difficult, but it was very interesting, as Korea is odd to us from the Middle East due to our closeness to European societies.
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| Mahmoud Alnaggar talks about science and his life on his social media channels. |
In one of your videos where you advise potential KGSP applicants about the general atmosphere in Korea, you addressed the detailed differences perfectly. Did you gain that sort of understanding by reading or through personal experience? Is there a situation where you did something culturally-inconvenient and learned the proper way by making such slipups?
Ha ha ha. No. Everything I said in the videos is based on me and my friends' personal experiences. Yes, of course one of the main things that still has its own place in my memory is how to go into a sauna in Korea. I learned a lot that day. However, the main thing I learned is that never go to the sauna again.
Which regions of Korea are more Muslim-friendly, regarding the abundance of mosques and halal restaurants?
In my humble opinion, the cities that are more liberal or the cities in which their citizens are in contact with foreigners on a daily bases are more accepting to foreign cultures, including Islam. Based on that, for example, Seoul is more accepting and Muslim-friendly than, say, Daegu, for example. However, this doesn't mean that Daegu isn't Muslim-friendly at the governmental level. Governmental policies are followed by all provinces and cities. I'm talking about at the personal level. They will not attack you in anyway, as the law is followed. However, they won't be friends with you, either, nor marry you or allow you to marry their daughter or sister. Still, that's my personal experience and opinion. You can find other people with other opinions.
In what way has the Halal Korea project helped you and other Muslims in Korea?
Halal Korea is still a new initiative. We still haven't seen that much of it until now. Maybe Muslim tourists have benefited from it more than us, who already live here and know everything about Korea.
How and why were you chosen to be the representative of the African and international students at KIST?
Nice question. I have a well-rounded personality. I like to joke around a lot and I love to speak in public, so people actually encouraged me to represent them. Additionally, they didn't have the time, as they all love to work more than anything else.
How did you initiate the Muslim students union in Korea?
The idea came to us three years ago among me and a group of friends from many countries: Egypt, Pakistan, Indonesia, Syria, Bangladesh, Korea, the U.K. and the U.S. We decided that Muslim students needed a voice to be heard here in Korea, as at that time Korea didn't incorporate anything about Islamic culture into their agendas. So we wrote up a mini-constitution, inspired by the other Muslim student associations around the world, translated it into Korean, and registered as the first Muslim student association in Korea. I actually came up with the name -- the Muslim Student Association of Korea (MSAK) -- to be pronounced as like imsak during Ramadan. Brother Qassim from Pakistan was the one who designed the logo. You can find the details of who was in the cabinet and established MSAK at our official website, www.msak.org.
Do you have any words for the people who applied for the KGSP but didn't succeed, and who may feel turned down or less motivated?
Let me tell you my story and maybe it will help you get over your sadness. After I got my bachelor's degree, I wanted to pursue a master's degree abroad. I applied to seven universities in three different countries in Europe. I got accepted to most of them, but without a scholarship, so I wasn't able to actually pursue a master's degree there. While getting my master's in Egypt, I worked part-time jobs and freelance jobs at a community pharmacy and, oddly enough, started to study Turkish for no reason. After getting my master's, I was able to work at the university as a TA for a year and a half. I made new connections, got more experience in research and teaching. I then decided to pursue a Ph.D. abroad. This time, I applied to 20 universities but didn't get a response from any of them, except from one laboratory at Oxford University, which was a positive response informing me that they accepted my application, but that it would have to be at my own expense. The funny thing was that this acceptance letter is still hanging on my bedroom wall for some reason. Anyway, I just felt that life ended at that point. All my ambitions and dreams were shattered. However, then I got a call from a friend of mine saying that he heard that I was searching for a Ph.D. position. He suggested I go to Korea, as he knows people there who are searching for students. I agreed and now I'm here. Now everyone envies me for going to Korea, as it's now growing rapidly as never before.
What I want to say is, you don't know what life has for you in its hat of wonders. Just keep trying and never put all your eggs in one basket. If you really want something, you have to search everywhere for it.
You have a profile on soundcloud.com. What's it for and what's the goal of it?
Yes. It's "Dardashet 3elm." It actually has the same goal as the YouTube channel, but instead of it being video, it's only voice, as many people complained that they don't like to watch, they just want to listen to scientific issues. Additionally, the style of the channel is very similar to a podcast, in which I speak with a close friend of mine about science and in which we joke around and simplify science as much as we can.
Do you have any future goals in mind?
The future is for the future. I actually have so many things in mind, starting with continuing as a postdoctoral fellow in Korea, or maybe going back to Egypt and have an academic career at a local university there. I have many, many ideas in mind, but I'm still not sure what the future holds for me. What I am sure of is that it will be something related to science.
wisdom117@korea.kr
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