Meet alumna Dounya Barrit, PhD ’19, Head of Perovskite and Novel Photovoltaic Technologies Group in Benguerir, Morocco, as she talks with Melissa Pappas (MS ’17) about the transition from KAUST to Morocco, chance meetings, life during lockdown, and advice for prospective PhD students. 

Dounya Barrit recently spoke at KAUST’s Open House “Networking Matters” session (May 2021) as an accomplished alumna who continues to support the KAUST community. She provided invaluable insight into her PhD, current job, and transition from KAUST into the job market at the start of the global pandemic. 

Originally from Meknes, Morocco, Barrit finished her bachelor’s and had found a passion for travel. In 2012, Barrit moved to Germany for her MSc/PhD program in Engineering and Management and realized how much she enjoyed the hands-on learning approach of research. With plans to continue her program in Germany, Barrit did not expect a chance encounter at the Dubai airport to be the reason for a shift in her path. 

Chance meetings lead to KAUST 

“I was traveling from Indonesia back to Germany and had a stopover in Dubai when I ran into someone who had gone to my university in Morocco,” recalls Barrit. “They told me they were doing a master’s degree at KAUST and were traveling back to Saudi Arabia. I had never heard of KAUST before, and my first thought was that it was rare for a student to be travelling in September, as that is typically when the academic semester starts. I took this as a sign and looked into KAUST immediately. To this day, I still think that was the best thing I have ever done for myself.”

After reading everything available about KAUST online, Barrit knew she needed to physically see the university to truly understand the life and the culture of the community. Although applying to KAUST was not in her grad school plans, she took the opportunity and was very grateful she did.

“Once I applied and got to the interview stage, I knew I was in the right place,” says Barrit. “They sent me to Turkey for the interview! I was so excited to get to travel to a new place, but it wasn’t just the location of the interview, and the generous financial support, that impressed me; it was the types of questions they asked. The interviewers were so nice and they asked questions that showed how committed KAUST is to respecting everyone’s diverse cultures.”

Convinced she was heading in the right direction, Barrit accepted the offer to start a PhD at KAUST. As with any international move culture shock and the challenge of making new friends presented themselves, but Barrit found the “settling in” period to be very supportive.

“KAUST is such a small community, but it is so diverse,” says Barrit. “I always felt special because there were people that wanted to get to know you and know more about your home country. And we all took care of each other. Something about being a KAUSTian makes you really mature. We would see good behavior from everyone in the community, so it became behavior that you adopted as well. KAUST became more than just academics for me, it was a larger, self-discovery experience as well.”

Knowing when the fit isn’t right 

However, although Barrit felt welcome in the community, she started to realize that the research project she had started was not a good fit for her.

“I knew within the first month of my fist PhD project that the topic was not for me, but it was hard to admit that to myself and to my peers,” shares Barrit. “At that point I was feeling extreme imposter syndrome, but once I felt confident sharing my experiences and talking about my doubts, I realized I wasn’t alone. I persevered with that project for a year and a half before I started over and I don’t regret anything.”

As Barrit realized it was not her lack of passion but rather the research topic that was making her question her choices, she decided to continue her PhD with a different lab on a different topic - Perovskite Solar Cell Formation.

“I knew I would need to work harder and teach myself some of the fundamentals that the other students in the lab already understood, but, in the end, I completely changed my field in solar cells and graduated at the same time as my colleagues,” says Barrit.

Graduating pre-pandemic, just…

Barrit graduated with her PhD in Materials Science and Engineering in 2019 and joined her husband in the UAE. In 2020, she secured a job in Morocco and began sending her belongings home.

“I got very lucky with the timing of everything. I had just sent all of my most important belongings home when the borders closed and COVID-19 was announced as a global pandemic, threatening to shut everything down! My husband and I got on the last flight back to Morocco, and the airport was in a state of panic,” says Barrit.

Once in Morocco, Barrit quarantined in her parent’s house, which was a new experience altogether!

“Of course, we were already psychologically preparing to make a move to a new place, but we were not prepared for the three-month lockdown in my parent’s house,” says Barrit. “I had been living independently for so long that it was weird moving back in with my parents. It was interesting too, though, since it was like getting to know them again, and I really appreciated the time I was able to spend with them.”

Working from home became the new norm and Barrit found this both challenging and rewarding.“ At first, working from home was great. I loved working in my PJs and attending international conferences from home,” says Barrit. “But then I started to crave social time, and realized that although zoom meetings easily replaced in-person meetings, it was hard to draw the line between work and personal time. And, although I was able to attend all of these conferences that I wouldn’t have been able to attend otherwise, it was hard socializing and connecting with new people when we couldn’t even have small talk about the weather.”

Barrit did share that since working over zoom for this past year, she is impressed by the way meetings can be made interactive with new technology. Additionally, while participating in zoom conferences, she won an award for best presentation for her PhD work and was invited to moderate a conference for the first time.

Building a career, and a new lab – with gratitude to KAUST

Barrit is currently the head of Perovskite and Novel Photovoltaic Technologies Group in Benguerir, Morocco, and although she started her position in unprecedented times, Barrit has already started building her lab successfully with a grant to supply it with new equipment.

“As the head of this lab, I realize now how, even though I worked so closely with these technologies as a PhD student, I was never paying too much attention to the actual equipment brands and models,” shares Barrit. “So, I reached out to my KAUST colleagues for that information and I have been receiving so much support in that regard. I even speak to sales reps for lab equipment and once I say that I used to do this research at KAUST, they tell me all of the specifics of the lab’s setup and limitations. It’s been a great experience so far, and I cannot thank my friends at KAUST enough for their continued support.”

Barrit’s advice to future KAUST students

Barrit’s path has not been linear and she admits to experiencing imposter syndrome and the lack of a work-life balance at times. She emphasizes that her success has been through taking risks and speaking her truth. She advises students entering grad school to build support networks early on and be honest with themselves about finding their own path.