Zina Alfahl

Work

What’s your job title? 

I am a postdoctoral researcher at the School of Medicine, Discipline of Bacteriology.

How long have you been working here? 

I’ve started my job recently in July 2022.

Where did you work before this position? 

Before joining the University of Galway, I was pursuing my PhD at the School of Pharmacy at Queens University Belfast which I completed in June 2022.

What does your day-to-day look like? 

My day starts at 7am, I get my son ready to school and then come to work. When I arrive to work, I sit down and plan my day. I jot down all the plans I have to complete and prioritise them depending on their urgency and importance. Then I do plenty of different tasks including planning and doing my lab experiments, attending meetings, preparing and delivering lectures and working on other regular stuff.

How do you prefer to start your work day? 

The first few hours of the work day have a significant effect on my level of productivity over the day so I always ensure to organise my tasks and to focus on what I absolutely need to accomplish during the day.

What motivates you at work? 

Doing what I love greatly motivates me at work! I am a very curious person and I always seek learning new things that I never could have imagined I would have encountered. Also, the workplace environment have a big impact on my motivation level at work.

What’s a work-related accomplishment that you’re really proud of?

I’ve recently received the Rising Star Award at the 5^th World Bronchiectasis & NTM conference in Prague. Also, near the end of my PhD I was awarded Professor John Glover Memorial Award which funded my PhD research outputs.

What’s the biggest misconception people have about your position? 

One of the biggest misconceptions people think about postdoctoral researchers that postdoctoral work is “study” or “training”. However, postdoctoral researchers are qualified researchers who do the actual research.