Research Stay of Yusuf C. El-Khaled

In my PhD project I am focussing my research on nutrient cycles in marine tropical ecosystems. Parts of my project deal with the nitrogen (N) cycle in marine benthic ecosystems in tropical regions to which coral reefs belong. I was more than happy having the opportunity to stay at the Red Sea Research Centre of the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), Thuwal, Saudi-Arabia, for eight months being able to initiate and perform my field and lab work in collaboration with KAUST. This was possible as my project is part of an international collaboration between both University of Bremen and KAUST that investigates the N cycle in coral reef organisms under environmental change.

In Saudi Arabia, I was glad to be hosted by Prof. Dr. Burton Jones and being part of Prof. Dr. Christian Voolstra’s lab. Prof. Dr. Burton Jones’ research interests include physical-biological interactions and coastal processes which were eminent for me since both of his specialities were key for me to progress my own research. Prof. Dr. Christian Voolstra’s research interests combine ecological and environmental genomics. Being part of his lab gave me the chance to go from a microbial to a community scale widening my own research range. Being involved in both working groups at the Red Sea Research Centre was ideal for me in multiple regards as a close support of other PhD students from KAUST, who were also part of the collaboration, was possible. All parties benefit from each other bringing different scientific skills and abilities to the pool.

Staying there offered more advantages than making use of the available knowledge. Of course its vicinity to the Red Sea was one of the major pros as well, especially having the opportunity to get the demanded organisms and substrates directly out of the reef to the lab was very convenient. Furthermore, the modern and well-equipped lab facilities ensured a good performance and progress over those eight months. Last, I would also like to mention the support of Florian Roth and Nils Rädecker, both former students of the University of Bremen and now PhD students at the Red Sea Research Centre of KAUST, was extraordinarily essential and helped me being successful generating many data sets which I will now continue working with.

In addition to that, staying in Saudi Arabia was also a unique personal experience. Even though I lived on the compound of the campus and university of KAUST which was Western-influenced and liberal (which is essential if more than 100 different nationalities live together peacefully on very small scale), I was able to visit cities outside of KAUST. Especially Jeddah, one of the biggest and most important cities of Saudi-Arabia was very impressive as its combination of modern buildings, malls, promenades on the one hand and its very unique, traditional old town called Al Balad on the other hand represents different trends and ongoing change in the kingdom.

Beside the mentioned advantages of staying at KAUST, the Red Sea Research Centre offered a variety of benefits that go beyond the lab facilities, its close location to the Red Sea itself and the presence of many collaborators. One of those benefits was the Red Sea Research Centre Conference that took place in winter 2017. I had the opportunity to attend lectures, sessions and have had a chat with leading experts of the related fields of science, like Prof. Dr. Terry Hughes, Prof. Dr. Madeleine van Oppen and others.

Overall, visiting KAUST and Saudi-Arabia for eight months was a great experience both scientifically and personally. I took the chance to establish a new method related to my research, generated a lot of data and deepened an international network with renowned scientists. My PhD project highly benefitted from my research stay abroad. I would like to thank my hosts Prof. Dr. Burton Jones and Prof. Dr. Chrisitan Voolstra as well as my supervisor here in Bremen Prof. Dr. Chrisitan Wild for giving me the chance to enjoy this experience.