Saif El-Din Shehata, who recently joined Kei Sakamoto's laboratory in the MRC Protein Phosphorylation Unit as an MSc student, has received the DAAD-Prize, which is awarded annually to the best international student from the Bonn-Rhein-Sieg Universiy of Applied Science, Germany. Saif, who is Egyptian, began his Bachelor's degree in Pharmacy and Biotechnology in 2005 at the German University in Cairo, but transferred to the Applied Biology programme at Bonn-Rhein-Sieg University in 2007 where he completed his studies. He also received a B.Sc. in Molecular Genetics with 1st class honours from the University of Dundee, which has a partnership with Bonn-Rhein-Sieg University.

Saif said he was very grateful to his parents and many colleagues at the University for their support, but especially to his wife Sherin Saad, who was also present at the awards ceremony on October 23rd 2010.