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  • CAREER Q&A

How to address gender equity in science in Africa

Salah Obayya works to advance women’s research careers in photonics in Egypt.
By
  1. Shihab Jamal

    1. Shihab Jamal is a freelance journalist in Cairo.

When Salah Obayya quit his job at the University of Glamorgan (now part of the University of South Wales) in Pontypridd, UK, in 2012 to lead a new venture at Zewail City of Science and Technology, an Egyptian research and technology park now in Giza, it was a risky career move. He had been recruited to start up the Center for Photonics and Smart Materials (CPSM), with a mission to conduct advanced nanophotonics research. He took on the challenge in the hope that it would give him an opportunity to help shape the future of higher-education institutions in Africa.

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doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-025-01646-3

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

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