Rokia Abdelfattah
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A view of Heidelberg's old town with the castle and Königsstuhl in the background
“I was lucky to have been awarded the Prof. Dr. Mahfouz Kassem Scholarship by the DAAD-Stiftung which allowed me for three-month research stay in Germany during which I greatly developed not only on the research level but also personally. These have been the best and unforgettable three months in my life.”
The Egyptian pharmacist Rokia Abdelfattah conducted research at the University of Freiburg to discover new active ingredients thanks to the Prof. Dr. Mahfouz Kassem scholarship. In addition to her scientific research, she also pursued cultural explorations in Baden-Württemberg and the surrounding area.
She shares her experiences at her host university and discovering Germany as well as its neighboring countries:
I would like to start by thanking my sponsor Abdel Meguid Kassem and his family and the DAAD-Stiftung for giving me such a great opportunity. I am a master’s student at the German International University (GIU), and I have applied to this scholarship through the help and guidance of Prof. Tamer Ibrahim and Dr. Marwa Hany who facilitated my connection with my host, Prof. Stefan Gunther. I am greatly thankful to them all.
I was hosted at the bioinformatics lab at the university of Freiburg where my focus was mainly on the computational studies. I performed docking studies on compounds that I had already synthesized in Egypt against leishmaniasis protein using the Glide module in Maestro Schrödinger , which is a software used for computational chemistry, molecular modeling and drug discovery. I used it to predict binding affinity of these compounds to the protein.

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Left: in front of Heidelberg Castle Right: Strasbourg
To further understand the interactions between my compounds and the target protein in the presence of various factors, I performed molecular dynamics simulations for these compounds using Desmond, which is a high-performance molecular dynamics simulation software integrated into Schrödinger’s software suite, thus rationalizing the activity of some of the compounds.
There have been weekly group meetings where the research group team which incorporated different nationalities such as Germany, Yemen, Cameron and Egypt, shared their different research topics’ updates which helped me broaden my horizon and gave me more insights about the computational studies which was so interesting because in Egypt, I mostly work on synthesis and purification of organic compounds rather than computational work.

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A view of Heidelberg's old town with the castle and Königsstuhl in the background
There have been also cooperations between the team members on their different projects and tools; for example, I used a tool “epharmlib” developed by one of the team members to do target fishing for my compounds.
Beyond academic research, I must highlight the friendliness and supportiveness of my colleagues. They were all willing to provide help whenever needed.
Talking about Germany, Freiburg specifically, I think it is one of the most beautiful cities I have ever seen. Being surrounded by the beauty of the black forest, I was totally charmed. The nature and the cleanliness of the city were so fascinating to me. Needless to mention that it’s closely located to Switzerland and France which gave me the chance to explore the beauty of these countries too. I visited different cities such as Basel, Zurich, Strasbourg, and Colmar. They were all filled with rich cultures and heritages. I enjoyed walking through their old towns, sitting by the Rhine River and taking tour in canals of La Petite Venise.

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A classic Black Forest Gateau
I also explored other cities in Germany such as Frankfurt, where one of my friends lives, and Heidelberg. I enjoyed both cities but Freiburg captivated me the most. Frankfurt is a big city with many skyscrapers, but what I liked the most were the Main tower and the river Main. Heidelberg was so enchanting; I loved the old city and the Heidelberg Castle.
Luckily, I had time to experience the German culture and food. I discovered that Germans love bakeries (and so do I), there were bakeries everywhere so this was something that I would usually grab while wandering around the city. There is also “Kaffee und Kuchen” tradition but for me I would replace coffee with maybe hot chocolate as I am not a coffee person but for sure I wouldn’t miss the delicious black forest cake which is quite different from the Egyptian’s version.
Honestly, the people in Freiburg were nice and helpful. They could also speak good English which made my stay smoother, and I was able to catch some German words too which encouraged me to work more on my German and that’s what I am currently doing My landlady was particularly super nice. She would invite me to dinner, recommend places for me to visit such as Schauinsland, Titisee, Schluchsee and Staufen which I all visited.
I also visited cities such as Heidelberg, Strasbourg and Colmar based on her recommendation. In addition, we would also have conversations about cultural differences between Egypt and Germany such as Education paths and fees and cultural similarities such as strong family bonds.

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Left: The waterfall in Triberg Right: Zurich
In summary, I would like to say that my research stay at Freiburg was truly rewarding and a lifetime experience. It helped me gain insights about what I would like to do in my further research in the future. It opened my eyes on different cultures, people, places, and traditions which consequently enriched my mind. I would truly love to revisit Freiburg again whenever I get the chance.
Finally, I would like once again to thank Prof. Dr. Mahfouz Kassem Scholarship by the DAAD-Stiftung, and all my professors, Prof. Stefan Gunther, Dr. Tamer Ibrahim and Dr. Marwa Hany and every person who helped throughout my trip and made it smoother; I am truly grateful and thankful to them all for this unforgettable experience.
As of October 2024.