Humboldt scholarship holder from Sudan conducts research in Oldenburg and Bremen

He is regarded as an outstanding international scientist: 35-year-old physicist Dr Mohammed Khalil Saeed Salih from Sudan will be conducting research at the universities of Oldenburg and Bremen over the next two years as part of his Humboldt Fellowship.

His work focuses on improving radiotherapy in cancer treatment. Saeed Salih is building on his own work as well as on earlier studies in Oldenburg and Bremen. He will be working in the research groups of Prof Dr Björn Poppe from the Institute of Physics at the University of Oldenburg and Dr Helmut Fischer from the Institute of Environmental Physics at the University of Bremen.

The visiting scientist's project is being funded by the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation's Georg Forster Research Fellowship. The fellowship is primarily aimed at scientists from emerging countries. One of the main aims of the programme is to transfer the research findings to these countries.

In Oldenburg and Bremen, Saeed Salih will investigate the generation of so-called radioactive isotopes during the operation of medical linear accelerators. These devices generate a small amount of radioactivity that remains for a certain period of time even after being switched off. In the radiotherapy of cancer patients, this can be relevant for the specialist staff who operate the linear accelerators. The scientist's findings should make it possible to better predict the radiation level of the machines during operation. In addition, potential problems during maintenance or decommissioning of the devices could be recognised more quickly.

Saeed Salih completed his doctorate at the Sudanese El-Neelain University in 2009. From 2009 to 2011, he was an Assistant Professor of Medical Physics at the Institute of Radiation Research at Najran University (Sudan).