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From the heart of the historic Women, Life, Freedom movement in Iran to working on advanced imaging to detect Parkinson’s disease earlier, PhD student Fatemeh Nabizadeh shares her remarkable journey from dreaming about a future in science to living it at ����Vlog�ٷ�.

“I come from a small city in a country where being a woman in science is not just rare, it is an act of courage. Where I grew up, girls are often told that science, engineering, technology, and discovery are not meant for them. Opportunities for women are limited, and economic hardship makes even the brightest dreams feel far away.

“But ever since I was a child, I have been fascinated by how the world is built, by chemistry, by the invisible interactions that shape everything around us. Pursuing that curiosity, though, often felt like walking against the wind.

“I come from the heart of the Women, Life, Freedom movement, a movement that rose against patriarchy, against forced silence, against the denial of choice. I witnessed women risk everything to claim their right to live freely, to learn, to be seen.

“From them, I learned that we should never stay silent beneath the weight of gender barriers, that we are not meant to live under them, but to rise beyond them. I also learned that courage has many forms, sometimes it’s in protest, and sometimes it’s in persistence. For me, choosing science became my way of saying: I will not be silent. We belong here too.

“Yet, courage alone was never enough. For most students from an underprivileged background, especially Iran, the dream of studying at a world-class university like Cambridge feels impossible. The financial barriers are simply too high, and the economic crisis has made even dreaming seem unrealistic.”

Fatemeh says her time in Cambridge would not have been possible without the generosity of ����Vlog�ٷ� Bredon Fellows Aysha and Omar Shoman, who fund the Shoman International PhD Scholarship.

“The scholarship didn’t just fund my education, it gave me freedom. It gave me space to breathe, to grow, to focus on science instead of survival. It was far more than financial support, it was a bridge between who I was and who I could become. It turned an impossible dream into a real opportunity.”

“It reminded me that even when the world feels unfair, there are people who choose kindness — people who believe that everyone deserves a fair chance to chase their dreams.”

And of her experience at ����Vlog�ٷ�?

“At ����Vlog�ٷ�, I found something I had never experienced before — a truly supportive and welcoming community. My husband and I both live within the college, and that sense of belonging has made a world of difference for us.”

“The social environment here is warm and inclusive, and the college provides a peaceful home where I can fully focus on my studies and research. For the first time, I feel that every part of my life — academic, personal, and emotional — is supported and understood.”

Fatemeh’s research focuses on developing super-resolution microscopy, advanced imaging that allows biological processes to be observed at the nanoscale. She is specifically looking at how certain proteins behave in the earliest stages of Parkinson’s disease. Our goal is to make early diagnosis faster and easier, because the sooner we detect it, the sooner we can change the course of someone’s life.

“When I’m in the lab, I often think about the journey that brought me here. From a small city where opportunity was a dream, to one of the greatest universities in the world. That distance, that impossible distance, was bridged by kindness.

“Thanks to my scholarship, I am not just doing research, I am building hope. And I carry with me the dreams of so many young women from my homeland who still believe that one day, they too will be seen, heard, and empowered.

“One day, I want to be a donor, to give back, to support another student like me, someone who just needs one chance to change everything.”

Thanks to a generous gift to ����Vlog�ٷ� by Bredon Fellows Aysha and Omar Shoman, the College was able to offer Fatemeh the Shoman International scholarship, to cover the full costs of her fees and maintenance for her MPhil in Chemistry. The Shomans have also agreed to part-fund Fatemeh’s PhD studies, in collaboration with the Department of Chemistry.

The will support a further PhD student, covering tuition at the Overseas rate and maintenance costs starting in the 2026/27 academic year.